Guangdong province is to experiment with the use of English as the medium of instruction in senior secondary schools, it was reported recently.
Ten classes from five pilot senior secondary schools would participate in the experiment, said a report on Xinhua's Web site, Xinhuanet.com, last week.
The provincial Education Commission wants to equip Guangdong students in urban and Pearl Delta areas with the same command of English as their counterparts 'in Hong Kong and other Southeast Asian countries' by 2005, and is currently designing English teaching materials and developing suitable software.
The move is seen as part of the commission's curriculum reform and research on English and bilingual education in pilot primary schools.
The commission also planned to equip all top secondary schools in the province with at least one native English-speaking teacher. Bilingual education in all subjects would be put to the test in some of the schools with required resources, such as trained teachers.
English exit tests for junior and senior secondary school students were also being considered, including oral tests.