Policy Address
Family Education
140. For Chinese people, family always comes first. Our parents, irrespective of their education background, teach us to respect our elders, love our siblings, be kind to our neighbours and abide by the rules. These are the values parents would like their children to hold onto. I believe that the educational function of families is an integral part of a civilised society and parents’ influence on their children is irreplaceable. The EDB will continue to support various initiatives for reinforcing home-school co-operation and promoting parent education.
Basic Education
141. Regarding basic education, to better cater for learning and growth of students, small class teaching has been implemented in the vast majority of the public sector primary schools, and improvement to teacher-to-class ratio as well as enhancement of non-teaching staff support have also been made to public sector primary and secondary schools, so that teachers can focus on teaching. The current-term Government has shown its utmost sincerity and support for teachers by implementing in one go the all-graduate teaching force policy in public sector primary and secondary schools starting from the 2019/20 school year. I hope that the teaching force will perform its mission of nurturing talents, equip themselves to keep abreast of social developments and the demand for talents, and help students lay a solid foundation for learning through basic education in areas like language and reading proficiency, innovative thinking and developing an interest in science.
Diversified Progression Pathway
142. To provide students with a diversified and flexible progression pathway and enrich their learning opportunities, we have completed the review of the school curriculum and implemented measures for optimising the four senior secondary core subjects at Secondary Four from this school year onwards. Also, we will review the Diploma Yi Jin subsidy scheme to continue to provide an alternative pathway for Secondary Six school leavers as well as adult learners to obtain a formal qualification for the purposes of employment and further study. On vocational and professional education and training, we will continue to promote Applied Learning as a valued senior secondary elective subject by developing more diversified and up-to-date courses, as well as placing equal emphasis on practice and theory to cater for the diverse interests of students and facilitate their exploration of multiple pathways for further study and career pursuits.
