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Teaching professionals last night spoke out in favour of the present system of allocating secondary school places, saying boys were at a disadvantage and the inequality had to be remedied.

They were speaking after a High Court judged ruled the Education Department's system was biased against girls.

The chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Heads of Secondary Schools, Michael Wong Wai-yu, said: 'The curriculum is not tailored to boys, who are better at logical thinking. The allocation system is being used to cancel out the inequalities created by the current memorisation-intensive curriculum.'

Committee on Home-School Co-operation chairman Tik Chi-yuen said: 'The Government should design an assessment system that covers a diverse range of abilities, such as mathematics, but not just languages.'

The Education Department rationalised the practice of separating boys and girls in the allocation system by citing evidence that girls score better in both school tests and the now-abolished Academic Aptitude Test.

It backed that up with research showing girls developed earlier than boys.

Mr Tik warned some parents might now use the verdict to demand a better-ranking school for their daughters. The department will deal with complaints from parents arising from the verdict and handle them on a case by case basis. This year's secondary school allocation results are due out on July 17.

It is understood that the student body of popular co-educational schools would comprise 60 to 70 per cent girls if the existing gender quota were scrapped.

Arrangements for toilets and classes such as carpentry and needlework would change to cater for a rise in girls in these schools if the court ruling were adopted. The 103-year-old Pui Ching Middle School in Yau Ma Tei - famous for producing scientists, including physics Nobel Prize winner Daniel Tsui Chye - would be typical. 'We don't have any problem admitting more girls,' assistant principal Chan Tak-hang said. 'But what's fair? Walk into any Primary Five class, you will find boys and girls are worlds apart at that age.'

The Equal Opportunities Commission filed for judicial review after receiving 15 complaints, five of which were resolved. One girl was accepted by a higher-ranking school after it acted.



Teachers back allocation system that favours boys