Education Department says low enrolment does not mean institutes fail to do their job Enrolment is not an indication of a school's effectiveness, the Education Department said.
The department was responding to the comments of the Audit Commission's Report on the low enrolment rate of skills opportunity schools and the Hong Kong Sea School.
'The effectiveness of practical schools lies in their ability to provide an alternative education to help unmotivated students or potential dropouts, while that of skills opportunity schools lies in their capability to help students with severe learning difficulties to acquire independent living skills which they will carry into their adulthood,' the department said.
It said both types of schools had helped enhance children's self-esteem, cultivate their social skills and train them to cope with the challenges of life.
It also pointed out that education was a long-term investment, the effect of which could and should not be weighed at the time of delivery. The effectiveness of school education should be measured qualitatively and not merely quantitatively.
The department said it would do its best to implement the recommendations in the Audit Commission's report to improve education services provided by practical schools and skills opportunity schools.
On the 31.4 per cent under- utilisation of the planned skills opportunity schools places in 1998, the department said that, in actual fact, the enrolment was 960, representing 78.7 per cent of the approved places.