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Measures to enhance English teaching welcomed

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research has welcomed the Government's decision to strengthen support measures for English language teaching and learning in Chinese-medium schools.

Chairman of SCOLAR Daniel Tse Chi-wai said members were pleased the Government had adopted recommendations to give additional resources to Chinese-medium schools to enhance English language teaching.

There were fears English language teaching would suffer as a result of the change in medium of instruction.

To encourage Chinese-medium schools to submit proposals to improve their students' English, Dr Tse said such projects would receive priority in SCOLAR's assessment of applications to the Language Fund.

'We have invited academics to submit research proposals on the impact of medium of instruction on students' language proficiency in the sixth call for applications.

'Findings of these projects will enable SCOLAR to advise the Government on the implementation of the language policy in a year,' Dr Tse said.

SCOLAR members also discussed the final report on the Review of the Workload of Language Teachers in Primary and Secondary Schools in Hong Kong.

Members also agreed the Language Fund should operate along with the Quality Education Fund (QEF) to ensure consistency in assessment of applications.

Moderation meetings will be held between members of the two bodies to strengthen communication on the principle and procedures of processing applications.

Starting from the sixth call for applications, SCOLAR will: issue two calls for applications each year, in March and September, to tie in with the school calendar; adopt a similar set of assessment criteria as the QEF; consider school-based language enhancement projects; and provide feedback to applicants on reasons for which funding is not recommended.

The QEF Secretariat will brief teachers on the QEF at seminars to be held this Saturday and the next.

Details for the sixth call for applications is obtainable from SCOLAR Web site at http://www.info.gov.hk/emb/.

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