Hong Kong lawmaker urges Education Bureau to scrap controversial test
Study reveals the city’s Primary Three Territory-wide System Assessment was used to rank primary schools
Education lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen has renewed calls for the controversial Primary Three Territory-wide System Assessment to be scrapped after claims the test was used to rank schools.
A study compiled by Ip’s team, including Bonnie Lam Lu-sai, who was a researcher at Chinese University’s faculty of education, alleged the test had become a tool to rank Hong Kong’s schools and found “no evidence to prove TSA’s help in improving teaching standards significantly”.
More than one sponsoring body also claimed they had been heavily criticised by senior Education Bureau officials for their poor results in TSA, the study said.
“This caused sponsoring bodies and schools to have to take the TSA seriously, resulting in the practice of drilling students,” Ip said.
Ip said his study, which interviewed 18 people including an Examinations and Assessment Authority official, former Education Bureau officials, principals and teachers, found that a report provided to TSA participating schools only indicated whether students were doing better or worse against the city average.
The bureau suspended this year’s Primary Three TSA after parents and educators voiced concerns over the pressure that the test and preparatory drills placed on students.