A decades-old high school maths course may be abolished because it is too difficult and distracts from other studies.
Additional Mathematics, known as 'A Maths', is taken by most Form Four and Form Five science pupils and includes algebra, trigonometry, geometry and calculus. The proposal to scrap it, to be released for consultation on June 21, is among measures to simplify and liven up subjects to be implemented over the next two to three years.
The existing mathematics programme - compulsory for all students - would become the core course. Those who have more ability could choose to do the more difficult sections.
Pure mathematics as an advanced course taught in Form Six and Seven will also be reviewed. The A Maths at both levels has been part of the curriculum since the late 1950s. About 20,000 pupils take the exam each year.
Cheung Pak-hong, a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on Re-structuring of Sixth-form Mathematics Curriculum, said A Maths took up too much of students' time and overlapped with other Form Six maths material. 'We've seen an unhealthy situation where students spend so much time drilling the subject they have no time for other things and can't really enjoy doing mathematics. They are spending about 25 per cent of their time on that one subject, although they may be taking a total of eight [subjects],' Mr Cheung said.
Kwan Siu-kam, principal curriculum development officer at the Education Department's Curriculum Development Institute, said: 'It's a very wrong concept for some students to brag about being able to take the subject. We have to see if the subject is really beneficial to the students.' Dr Frederick Leung Koon-shing, dean of the faculty of education at the University of Hong Kong, said less than one in 10 students was suited to take A Maths. 'The subject is supposed to be taken by those who are really good in mathematics but is now taken by almost all science stream students,' he said.
