The Committee on Home-School Co-operation has requested all secondary schools to provide data about themselves for the compilation of a sort of directory for parents who have to select schools for their children leaving primary six.
This is a positive move, given that many parents agonise over which is the most suitable school for their children. Such a directory can give parents an idea, at least on paper, about the schools they are interested in. However, there are some drawbacks and some schools might find that this directory is a mixed blessing.
Schools are being asked to provide a description that illustrates the uniqueness of all aspects of each school, that is - administration and organisation, teaching and learning, school ethos and the support provided for students. Schools should have no problem providing such information.
However, when it comes to the provision of data concerning students' academic performance, problems can arise.
Schools are being asked to provide the average passing percentages for Chinese language, English language and mathematics at the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination over the past three years.
This is neither an informative nor a fair arrangement. Average percentages do not accurately indicate the academic development of a school. A school may be fighting an uphill struggle and be making encouraging progress, but there will be no sign of this with these bald statistics. The same goes for a school which is declining or stagnating. Once again, these statistics will not reveal the real situation. It would be far better if such figures covered the past five years. This would give parents a more accurate picture.
