Pencils and paper have had their day.
Or so it would seem from an Education Department 'knowledge fair' this week aimed at getting teachers to find more innovative ways of assessing pupils than written tests.
Both Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun and Director of Education Matthew Cheung Kin-chung turned out for Monday's event, which showcased the projects of more than 40 primary and secondary schools. Teachers from more than 500 schools learnt about assessing their students through dialogue, games, parent- and peer-evaluation, and various other innovative means.
'Using paper and pencil tests alone violates the spirit of education reforms as it does not pay heed to whole-person development by concentrating on students' performance in only a few areas,' said Mrs Law.
The fair, at Wesley College and Chinese Foundation Secondary School in Siu Sai Wan, was intended to provide teachers with a platform for sharing ideas rather than issuing commands to adopt new assessment approaches from the top down, according to Cheng Sai-man, Education Department chief development curriculum officer for basic education.
The department will organise a series of seminars and short courses for teachers on assessment methods, to begin next year.
