The following is issued on behalf of the Education Commission:

The Chairman of the Education Commission (EC), Mr Antony Leung, announced today (May 8) the launching of a public consultation on the proposals for education reform. The consultation will last until July 31, 2000.

Explaining the background of the review, Mr Leung said that it was the third round of consultation on the review of the education system in Hong Kong, which covers the academic structure, the curricula, the assessment mechanisms of various stages of education and the interface between these stages.

"Last year, we have conducted two rounds of consultation to invite the public's comments on the aims of education for the 21st century and the framework for the education reform respectively," said Mr Leung.

"We have now embarked on the third stage of public consultation. The slogan for this round of public consultation is 'Excel and Grow'. This illustrates the objective of our review which is to examine how the education system should be changed to provide the most favourable environment for both teaching and learning, so that students can fully realise their potentials and teachers can have more room to help students learn more effectively.

"We have prepared a consultation document which sets out in details the proposals for change, and the rationale behind these changes. Apart from the full version of the consultation document, we have also produced an abridged version which summarizes all of our reform proposals. A consultation leaflet has also been produced to provide the public with an overview of the major proposals.

"Today, we will jointly organise with RTHK a live forum entitled 'Hong Kong Education Blueprint 2000' to introduce the reform proposals and exchange views with members of different sectors of the community. A series of seminars in various districts will also be held. We will meet different bodies representing different sectors of the community to gather their views.

"The success of the education reform hinges on the support of the whole community. We appeal to all members of the public to participate actively in this review and contribute their views on the reform proposals. We will take into account all the views received during the consultation in finalising our recommendations for submission to the Government." Mr Leung said.

The consultation documents are available on the EC's website (http://www.e-c.edu.hk). Copies of the documents will be available at the District Education Offices, District Offices and public libraries from May 20 onwards.

Ends/Monday, May 8, 2000