Band cut 'will not lower standards'

The cut in school banding will not lead to wider disparity in abilities in secondary schools and mediocrity in elite schools, the education chief insisted yesterday.

The five-band system was reduced to three this year on the recommendation of the Education Commission, following criticism that the system was too elitist. Some educators fear it will lead to a wider mix of student abilities in schools. But Director of Education Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said the results of secondary school allocation showed standards in 70 per cent of schools were largely the same as that achieved last year.