Education and Manpower Bureau

I. Education

In the past year, we have been working on 62 pledges, of which:

The following sets out the detailed report for each main programme area.

Kindergartens

Year Pledge Present Position
Action Completed
1996 1. To introduce in 1996 a combined curriculum guide for kindergartens and child care centres. A combined curriculum guide for kindergartens and child care centres was issued in September 1996.
1996 2. To provide additional training for 1?30 existing kindergarten teachers in 1996-97. Some 1 180 serving kindergarten teachers were trained in 1996-97.
Action in Progress: A Pledge to Catch Up
1996 3. To require at least 40% of teachers in each kindergarten to complete the Qualified Kindergarten Teacher Course by September 1997. About 80% of kindergartens have met the requirement on having at least 40% teachers who have completed the Qualified Kindergarten Teacher Course. The reason for slippage is not due to a lack of overall supply of qualified teachers but uneven distribution of these teachers among kindergartens. In the 1996-97 school year, over 60% of kindergartens had more than 50% teachers who have completed the Qualified Kindergarten Teacher Course.
On-going Commitments
1996 4. To harmonise training for kindergarten teachers and child care workers in 1996. Tertiary institutions will continue with development of courses according to the recommended basic programme and seek mutual recognition from the Education Department/Social Welfare Department.
1996 5. To conduct a comprehensive review of the Kindergarten Subsidy Scheme in the 1998-99 school year to assess how well the scheme has operated in its first three years and to review the ratio of trained teachers required for each kindergarten. The Scheme is under continuous monitoring and preparation for the comprehensive review, through publicity, consultation and collecting information on compliance by kindergartens with the requirements under the Scheme, has started and is an on-going process. To encourage kindergartens to employ more trained teachers, we plan to have the comprehensive review advanced to the 1997-98 school year.


Primary and Secondary Schools

Year Pledge Present Position
Action Completed
1996 1. To complete a comprehensive review of prevocational and secondary technical education, including an examination of the practical and technical curricula of such schools and prepare a draft report for consultation. Review completed and review report published in March 1997.
1996 2. To provide more opportunities for gifted children by extending the pilot programme to 280 primary school pupils in the 1996-97 school year. 330 pupils from the pilot schools have been served through school-based programmes and/or courses offered at the Fung Hon Chu gifted education centre in the 1996-97 school year.

The whole pilot project (1994-97) is under review. The evaluation report will be ready by March 1998.

1996 3. To issue firm guidance to secondary schools in 1997 to ensure that they use an appropriate medium of instruction to meet the needs of their students and to consider sanctions against schools which do not follow such guidance. A booklet on "Medium of Instruction Guidance for Secondary Schools" was issued to all public sector secondary schools in September 1997. Most schools will have to adopt Chinese for teaching all academic subjects, starting with their 1998-99 Secondary 1 intake and progressing each year to a higher level of secondary education. Schools intending to use, or to continue using English as a medium of instruction starting with their 1998-99 and future Secondary 1 intakes must demonstrate to Education Department (ED) that they satisfy the requirements necessary for the effective use of English as a teaching medium.
1996 4. To improve liaison with schools, avoid duplication in data collection and provide a "one-stop" service for the public by reorganising the three school places allocation sections of the ED. The three school places allocation sections in ED were reorganised as the School Places Allocation Section in October 1996. The amalgamation has facilitated data sharing and "one-stop" service for schools and the public.
1996 5. To complete an introductory booklet and video by the end of 1996 to promote the concept of integrated learning. Introductory booklet and video have been completed and will be distributed to schools shortly.
1996 6. To develop a self-study English package which will be made available for distribution by early 1997 to schools and voluntary agencies providing remedial English lessons for newly arrived children. To help newly arrived children learn the English language, self-study packages were distributed to schools and voluntary agencies in May 1997.
1996 7. To introduce a pilot Intensive English Course (IEC) in the 1996-97 school year for sixth form students in English-medium schools. A pilot scheme of the 90-hour IEC was carried out in 12 school centres. 3 452 Secondary 6 students participated in the course.
1996 8. To enhance the knowledge and skills of our secondary students in information technology by assisting all public sector secondary schools to access the Internet from the 1996-97 school year. With the assistance from the Government, all secondary schools can have access to the Internet from the 1996-97 school year. So far, 427 (90%) of them have Internet installed.
1995 9. To build five more primary schools by 1997-98 to cater for demand for school places from newly arrived children. All five new schools have been completed.
1995 10. To conduct a review in 1996 of the longer term requirements of newly arrived children. Following the review, we have implemented a school-based support scheme from the 1997-98 school year and are carrying out a pilot scheme in seven schools on a short-term preparatory course.
1994 11. To look at new ways to promote the use of Chinese and to allay the concerns of parents about mother-tongue teaching. Various efforts have been made to publicise the benefits of mother-tongue teaching among schools, teachers and parents. These include a total of 17 seminars on Benefits of Mother-Tongue Teaching, publicity through various media, posters and promotion packages distributed to schools.
1993 12. To meet the targets set by the Education Commission Report No. 5 for the upgrading of teaching posts from non-graduate to graduate level by 1997. By September 1997, 1?00 and 1?15 non-graduate posts have been upgraded to graduate level in secondary and primary schools respectively.
1993 13. To develop new intensive courses to upgrade the skills of our language teachers. We have organised 106 intensive courses for 2?35 primary school teachers to upgrade their English oral proficiency.
1993 14. To develop additional teaching materials to support language teachers in classroom teaching. Six English language learning modules cum teacher's manual are developed and distributed to schools.
1993 15. To improve the language learning opportunities for students not only in the classroom but also through extra-curricular activities. 1?00 Secondary 1 students have joined a series of nine summer camps to gain an English language immersion experience.
Action in Progress: On Schedule
1996 16. To conduct a comprehensive review of the Graduate Posts in Primary Schools Scheme in 1999. The review will be completed in 1999. We aim to gradually increase the percentage of graduate posts in primary schools.
1996 17. To phase out floating classes in Secondary 1 to 5 by the year 2000. We plan to provide 200 additional classrooms in 60 secondary schools under the School Improvement Programme and build seven new secondary schools by year 2000. So far 83 additional classrooms have been provided to 17 secondary schools, three new secondary schools will be completed in 1998 and another four in 1999.
1996 18. To extend the School Improvement Programme to cover all public sector schools in which improvement works are feasible by 2004. Under Phases I to III of the School Improvement Programme, we carried out feasibility studies on 408 schools and 350 were found feasible for improvement works. Works at 143 have been completed, those at another 55 in progress, and those at the remaining 152 will commence soon. Feasibility studies are being carried out on another 59 schools.
1996 19. In 1997-98, to step up the pace of providing whole-day primary schools by identifying new sites in suitable locations and urging bi-sessional schools to convert to whole-day schooling wherever possible. An implementation plan has been drawn up to convert some 140 bi-sessional or uni-sessional schools to whole-day operation through administrative measures in the 1997-98 to 2001-02 school years. In the 1997-98 school year, 37 of them have switched to whole-day operation, bringing the total number of whole-day government and aided schools to 208, benefiting 21% of pupils in government and aided primary schools. In parallel, we are making efforts to identify more primary school sites.
1996 20. To adopt a comprehensive approach to expand the scope of school inspections in the 1997-98 school year. A framework for whole school approach to inspection will be finalised taking into account the recommendations of the Education Commission Report No. 7 (ECR7).
1996 21. To consider the Board of Education's recommendations following a review of the nine-year compulsory education system and decide what changes, if any, should be made. The Board of Education (BoE) issued the draft Report on Review of 9-year Compulsory Education in March 1997 for public consultation. The recommendations are now being finalised.
1996 22. To consider recommendations in the ECR7 on Quality School Education when received. Education Commission has finalised its recommendations and will soon submit the ECR7 to the Administration for consideration.
1996 23. To review the structure of the Curriculum Development Council and Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) to rationalise present arrangements and make them more responsive to changing needs. The review process has started. Recommendations will be drawn up taking into account the recommendations of ECR7.
1996 24. To promote the professionalism of teachers by introducing requirements for pre-service professional qualifications, developing language benchmarks and funding in-service courses. Requirement for pre-service professional qualifications are being reviewed in the context of the new policy objective to require all new teachers to be trained graduates in the forseeable future.

On funding of in-service courses in the 1996-97 school year, the Hong Kong Institute of Education offered 15 full-time block release courses mainly on languages, 12 part-time evening courses mainly for upgrading serving teachers without initial teachers' training, 10 part-time day-release courses on technical subjects and 5 mixed mode courses on kindergarten education. Please see item 26 for present position on development of language benchmarks.

1996 25. To improve support services for language teaching and learning in schools by setting up a Language Resource Centre in 1997 and by using the electronic media and school computers to develop links between teachers and various institutions to enhance the exchange of teaching ideas and materials. Preparations for setting up the centre are at an advanced stage. Conversion/renovation work will take place as soon as possible.
1996 26. To develop language benchmarks for English teachers in lower secondary forms, Putonghua teachers and those using Chinese as the medium of instruction in primary schools. Tentative language benchmarks for the three categories of teachers have been developed and three subject committees have been set up. Formal funding approval for the language benchmark pilot project has been granted. The subject committees will commence developing test specifications for the pilot assessments.
1996 27. To extend the Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC) so that all primary classes will implement TOC for the core subjects of Chinese, English and Mathematics by the 2000-01 school year. In the 1997-98 school year, a total of 608 government and aided primary schools (82.1%) will be implementing TOC for the three core subjects at various levels.
1994 28. To build three more Practical Schools and seven more Skills Opportunity Schools over the next five years (1995 to 1999) to meet the needs of unmotivated students and those with severe learning problems. One new Practical School and three new Skills Opportunity Schools have been built. Building works for two Practical Schools and three Skills Opportunity Schools are in progress. A school site for the remaining Skills Opportunity School is to be identified.
1993 29. To provide by 1997 an additional graduate teacher for every secondary school with a high proportion of Band Five students. An additional graduate teacher has been provided to each of the 82 secondary schools which are currently on the School-Based Curriculum Tailoring Scheme.
1992 30. To reduce the size of school classes to 35 pupils each, starting in September 1993 with Primary 1, and extending it to a higher level a year at a time. Reduction of class size has been extended to Primary 5 in the 1997-98 school year.
Action in Progress: A Pledge to Catch Up
1996 31. To improve teacher education by constructing a new campus in Tai Po for the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) to be commissioned in September 1997 at a cost of $2.3illion The HKIEd will become operational in its new campus in the 1997-98 academic year. We are taking steps to expedite the completion of the subsidiary facilities to ensure that the new campus becomes fully operational as soon as possible.
On-going Commitments
1996 32. To improve the quality of aided schools by inviting them to join the Performance Pledge Programme. In addition to 83 government and four aided schools already participating in the Performance Pledge Programme, another 259 aided schools have joined the Programme in the 1997-98 school year.
1996 33. To adopt a comprehensive approach in curriculum development to ensure continuity across different levels of school education and to encourage an integrated approach to overcome rigid subject boundaries and segmentation of learning. To promote integrated teaching and learning, we will distribute a framework for curriculum integration to schools for reference in the first term of the 1997-98 school year. Relevant sessions and workshops have also been organised for teachers.
1996 34. To step up training for school principals to enhance their leadership and administrative skills. Over 30 local and overseas courses and training workshops have been organised for school supervisors, school heads and deputy heads to enhance their leadership and administrative skills.
1996 35. To encourage schools to employ more qualified native-speaking English teachers on local terms. To promote the Native-speaking English Teacher Scheme and to enable scheme participants to share their experience, seminars were organised for all aided secondary school heads, English Panel Chairpersons, representatives of the School Management Committees and Parent-Teacher Associations.
1994 36. To provide extra English teachers in schools which are switching to Chinese to ensure adequate standards of English. A total of 95 graduate and 113 non-graduate English teachers have been provided to schools adopting Chinese as the medium of instruction by September 1997.
1994 37. To broaden the core curriculum at secondary and sixth form levels in order to allow students more choices of academic, practical and technical subjects. "Travel and Tourism" was introduced at the senior secondary level in the 1993-94 school year. The new Putonghua syllabus will be implemented in the 1998-99 school year starting with Secondary 1 and 4. We are also planning to introduce civic education as a subject at Secondary 1 to 3 in the same school year. At the sixth form level, Advanced Supplementary (AS) Level "Electronics" has been implemented from the 1997-98 school year, and CDI is making plans to introduce AS Level "Economics" in the 1999-2000 school year.
1994 38. To develop new programmes to cater for students of varying ability. The Fung Hon Chu Gifted Education Centre has provided 104 enrichment programmes for gifted children since its establishment in December 1995. The School-Based Curriculum Tailoring Scheme has been implemented in schools with a high intake of academically low achievers since 1994. So far 99 schools have benefited from the scheme.


Tertiary Education

Year Pledge Present Position
Action Completed
1996 1. To develop a strategy in 1997 to enhance the quality and cost-effectiveness of higher education by evaluating the recommendations of the Review of the Development of Higher Education in Hong Kong conducted by the University Grants Committee (UGC). We aim to meet Hong Kong's changing economic and social needs by developing areas of excellence and improving the quality and relevance of teaching, learning and research. We will also rationalise the use of resources and enhance the cost-effectiveness of tertiary education. Following the completion of a comprehensive review on the development of higher education, the UGC published a report "Higher Education in Hong Kong" in November 1996. Government endorsed the main recommendations which form the strategy to enhance the quality and cost-effectiveness of higher education in the 1998-2001 triennium and beyond. The UGC is exploring with UGC-funded institutions measures to identify and develop areas of excellence.
1996 2. To allow successful applicants under the Local Student Finance Scheme (LSFS) in the 1996-97 academic year to apply for reassessment of the level of financial assistance if their family finances change suddenly. The Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) has implemented new procedures in the 1996-97 academic year to process re-assessment of financial assistance arising from sudden change in family finance.
1996 3. To process appeals for additional financial assistance under the LSFS within three months. Processing appeals within three months is a new target included in the SFAA's 1996 Performance Pledge. The average processing time is 66 days.
1996 4. To launch a programme of school visits in late 1996 to publicise the LSFS among Secondary 5 to 7 students intending to study in tertiary institutions in the 1997-98 academic year. SFAA conducted a programme of school visits in late 1996 to publicise the LSFS among secondary school students. Similar programmes will be held in the 1997-98 academic year and thereafter.
1996 5. To protect local students from sub-standard overseas courses leading to non-local higher and professional qualifications by establishing a Registrar's Office in 1997 to implement the provisions of the Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance. The Non-local Courses Registry was established in late 1996 and is now in full operation. With the enactment of the subsidiary legislation in June 1997, most provisions of the legislation have commenced operation on 20 June 1997 and the remainder will come into force by the end of 1997.
1996 6. To improve the language skills of tertiary students by enhancing the self-study opportunities and remedial language courses provided by the seven UGC-funded institutions. A total of $87.5m has been allocated to the eight UGC-funded institutions (including the HKIEd) in the form of Language Enhancement Grants to help organise language enhancement courses in Chinese (including Putonghua) and English and support self-access learning centres for students in the 1997-98 academic year.
1996 7. To conduct a second Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) in late 1996 to assess by cost centres the research performance of UGC-funded institutions as a basis for allocating recurrent grants. The RAE Panels completed their deliberations in December 1996, followed by the completion of the computation and analysis of RAE results in March 1997 and UGC's endorsement in April 1997. The RAE results and findings were relayed to the institutions in May 1997, and institutions were asked to consider their targets and plans for achievement for the next RAE. The results of RAE 1996 have also been factored into the assessment of recurrent funding for the triennium 1998-2001.
1995 8. Starting in 1996, the UGC to introduce Teaching and Learning Quality Process Reviews (TLQPRs) which seek to examine the effectiveness of the various systems used to maintain and improve the quality of teaching and learning in its institutions. The findings will be made public. Reviews for all the UGC-funded institutions (except HKIEd) have been completed and all review reports published. A seminar on TLQPRs was organised in April 1997.
Action in Progress: On Schedule
1996 9. To develop proposals in 1997 to improve the LSFS in the light of public feedback on the findings of the recent review. Our aim is to ensure that financial assistance is provided to needy students as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. Consequent upon the submission of a final report by the Consultants on the review of the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the LSFS in May 1996, the Joint Committee on Student Finance has considered the findings in the light of the public feedback received and has recently formulated recommendations to the Administration as regards improvement measures to the existing LSFS and the introduction of a non-means tested loan scheme in 1998-99. The Administration has accepted in principle these recommendations.
1996 10. To undertake management reviews of UGC-funded institutions in 1997 to ensure that they have in place appropriate internal resource allocation, planning and financial processes. The UGC has finalised the objectives, scope and outline methodology for the management reviews and formed a Management Review Steering Group to oversee and monitor the conduct of the Reviews. An independent consultant is being engaged to support the review scheduled for commencement in the 1997-98 academic year.
1994 11. To provide an additional $122illion in grants and an extra $203illion in loans to Hong Kong students of tertiary institutions over the next four years (1995 to 1998). When compared with the 1994-95 application exercise, an extra $756 million in grants and $560 million in loans have been disbursed during the 1996-97 and 1997-98 exercises through various improvement measures and the introduction of the Extended Loan Scheme.


Preparing for the Transition

Year Pledge Present Position
Action Completed
1996 1. To revise school syllabuses in the 1996-97 school year to reflect constitutional, political and social developments in Hong Kong and China. Revisions of General Studies (Primary 1 to 6), Social Studies (Secondary 1 to 3) and Chinese History (Secondary 1 to 3) have been completed.
1996 2. To strengthen civic education in schools in the 1996-97 school year by providing financial incentives to secondary schools offering civic education as a separate or integrated subject at Secondary 1 to 3 levels. A recurrent class grant has been provided to 957 Secondary 1 to 3 classes in 61 schools in the 1996-97 school year.
1995 3. To organise summer classes for primary and secondary school students who wish to learn Putonghua. 15?00 primary and 10?00 secondary students have benefited from 474 primary and 289 secondary Putonghua summer classes.
Action in Progress: On Schedule
1996 4. To develop in the 1996-97 school year a civic education syllabus for Secondary 1 to 3. The draft syllabus will be issued for consultation with schools and educational bodies shortly.
1995 5. To develop a new Putonghua curriculum for Primary 1 to 6 and Secondary 1 to 5 and introduce the new Putonghua curriculum for Primary 1, Secondary 1 and Secondary 4 in the 1998-99 school year. The new Putonghua curriculum for Primary 1 to 6 and Secondary 1 to 5 has been finalised.
1995 6. To provide a recurrent grant for primary and secondary schools which offer Putonghua from the 1998-99 school year. Funds have been secured for the recurrent grant.
1995 7. To enhance in-service teacher training for primary and secondary teachers to ensure an adequate supply of trained teachers for the new Putonghua curriculum to be implemented from the 1998-99 school year. Tertiary institutions have been commissioned to organise courses to train about 900 additional Putonghua teachers in the 1997-98 school year.
1995 8. To include Putonghua in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) as an independent subject in the year 2000. The Hong Kong Examinations Authority has issued a draft examination syllabus for Putonghua for HKCEE 2000 to schools and educational bodies for consultation.


Progress Report