The following is issued on behalf of the Education Commission:

The Chairman of the Education Commission (EC), the Hon Antony Leung, announced today (Tuesday) the outcome of the consultation exercise on the aims of education as the first stage of the review of academic system in Hong Kong.

Mr Leung explained that the objectives of the consultation exercise were to seek the views of the public on the aims of education and to touch off a territory-wide discussion to identify a consensual orientation for education development.

Mr Leung said: "The consultation, conducted from January 22 to March 6 this year, was extensive. A total of 160,000 copies of a consultation document and 1.5 million copies of a pamphlet were distributed to the public. EC representatives attended over 55 consultation sessions and more than 20 media phone-in programmes to reach out to all walks of the community.

He said: "So far, the EC has received over 14,000 written submissions. Of these, 300 are e-mail messages. Some 3000 submissions were sent in after March 6. We have also received 68 voice messages and noted over 500 articles, editorials, and commentaries, and 12 statements by various groups of people in the newspapers during the consultation period, reflecting the community's deep concern over education.

"Parents and students comprise the majority of respondents, making up 56 per cent and 27 per cent of the total respectively.

"Next are the teachers who make up 10 per cent of the respondents. The rest is from tertiary institutions, schools, professionals, social workers, and various education and business organisations.

"It can be discerned from the public views that in general, the community want educational reform. The present system is considered too examination-oriented, with too much emphasis on rote-learning. It can no longer meet the needs of Hong Kong. The public also generally agree with the aims of education as stated, although some want the aims to be more specific and measurable, rather than broad and idealistic.

"The public have raised several concerns. Many parents and students say that too much homework are making the students lose interest in learning. They also want the quality of teaching to be improved. A large number of respondents call for the curriculum of primary and secondary education to be reduced, with more emphasis on developing creative thinking and analytical power. The poor communication skills of many school leavers is another problem highlighted. The need for moral and civic education to be strengthened is also frequently brought up."

Mr Leung said that some observations could be made based on the views received and the concerns expressed.

"First of all, " he said, "the public clearly support a 'student-centred' approach to implementing the aims of education, with emphasis on four key areas: students should enjoy and love learning, be capable of self-learning; be able to communicate effectively in both Chinese and English; be creative and able to think independently and critically; be willing to take responsibility for themselves and have commitment to their families, society, nation, and the world at large.

"In order to succeed in the four key areas, the support and involvement of the schools and teachers is very important. Consideration should be made to reducing constraints on schools and teachers. This can be achieved through relieving teachers from performing too many administrative duties, as well as allowing more flexibility and autonomy to schools under the school-based management framework.

"The consultation has also raised awareness among the public that everyone has a role to play in promoting quality education. In particular, the teachers' role is considered to be critical. The public want the teachers to be given more support and recognition, while measures should be taken to raise their standards and calibre. The public also feel that the parents should understand the meaning of quality education and work closely with schools to make sure that their children are receiving it. The community at large must be involved by providing support to schools and teachers in the spirit of co-operation and partnership. The media must accept that it has a social responsibility in providing a positive influence on the moral and civic attitudes of students.

"We understand that educational reform must not be driven from the top. It must be a collective effort, with the co-operation of all concerned parties. Furthermore, in order to ensure that the reform is successful, we must not add to the workload of those involved, but must reduce their constraints. The EC will keep these two points in mind in the subsequent stages of the review," said Mr Leung.

Looking ahead to the next stage of the review, Mr Leung said that the EC would refine the overall aims of education as well as aims for the individual learning stages based on the views received.

He added: "The aims will provide the basis for the EC to set the education reform agenda for the next stage of the review, which will involve a review of the curriculum, assessment process and academic structure.

"The EC will also look at other areas of education, such as informal and non-formal education, vocational education and continuing education, and their interface with formal education.

"We also appreciate the importance of moral and civic education. Arising from the recent incidents involving youth gangs, many people in the community are concerned about the moral behaviour of our students. We will take this into account in our next stage of the review.

"The EC will work together with other education-related bodies in carrying out the review. Task groups comprising members from various sectors will be formed to tackle specific issues."

Mr Leung thanked the public for their views. "We are very gratified by the enthusiastic response to the exercise and the extensive discussion on education which it has stimulated. At the same time, we feel that we must proceed carefully because of the high public expectations. We hope that the public will continue to give their views to facilitate the educational reform by the Government and the education sector," he said.

Ends/Tuesday, March 30, 1999