Radical revamp to scrap old tests

IT IS BEING BILLED as the biggest shake-up in Hong Kong education since the introduction of nine-year compulsory education. The latest reform proposals released for consultation this week involve the much-anticipated radical changes in structure and curriculum for both secondary and university study. If adopted, all students would be able to continue their studies until the end of Form Six when they would sit an exam leading to the tentatively-named Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE). Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and A-levels would be abolished. Higher education would also change, with universities able to offer students courses that have more breadth and depth over four years, instead of the rush to cover specialist subjects in just three. The secondary diploma would involve a new curriculum divided into three elements including the study of four core subjects - Chinese, English, maths and liberal studies; two to three elective subjects; and 'other learning experiences'. For the less academic, the electives could be interchanged with career-orientated subjects. There would also be new emphasis on applied, as well as theoretical, knowledge. Assessment would be radically different, measuring students' actual achievements and including more school-based assessment. Overall, it is an approach intended to make school more meaningful to students and relevant to society, and to reduce the overemphasis on tests and exams. Chris Wardlaw, Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower and one of the architects of the reform, insists that change is necessary if wider education reforms recommended by the Education Commission four years ago are to achieve their aims: 'Without it the reform proposals would struggle to be fully realised. This vision is the last piece in the reform process.' Changes in society and the economy demanded changes in education, said Mr Wardlaw, echoing arguments put forward by Education Commission member Professor Cheng Kai-ming in a lecture to leading educators this week. Hong Kong's participation rates in senior secondary and post-secondary education were low by international standards. But Mr Wardlaw acknowledged the challenge posed by the shake-up. 'I don't underestimate the level of support our principals and teachers need for this change.' Cheung Man-kwong, president of the Professional Teachers' Union, has already claimed that implementing the structural change and curriculum reform together would lead to chaos in schools. He has called for more than the proposed four years to phase in the changes. But Mr Wardlaw insists the new structure, and the curriculum and assessment, cannot be separated. 'We have to move things together,' he said. The effort to win school support begins immediately. The Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) has embarked on briefings and workshops for principals, teachers, parents and employer groups. More than 300 educators, including teachers, academics and education officials, have participated in the various committees working on the new framework, which has also involved close collaboration between the EMB, the Curriculum Development Institute and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. 'It is as big a change, and important a change, as the move to nine years of basic education in 1978,' Mr Wardlaw said. Ironically, Hong Kong has embarked on shedding its British heritage in education in the same week that Britain itself announced similar reforms. Like Hong Kong, Britain plans to move to a single diploma that will involve the death-knell of its equivalent of HKCEE - the General Certificate of Secondary Education. Both moves reflected international trends, said Mr Wardlaw. 'We have been learning from other places. We have learnt a little from the IB [International Baccalaureate] and from assessment systems from around the world.' The new exams would be benchmarked against overseas equivalents to ensure they met international standards. The unique feature of the Hong Kong solution would be liberal studies, with four areas of study: self and personal development; society and culture; and science, technology and the environment. 'Liberal studies is very much our response to the issue that knowledge is changing. Students can look at knowledge in different ways. It has to be multi-disciplinary and more student focused,' Mr Wardlaw said. Liberal studies had borrowed some elements from the IB, such as the inclusion of independent study. But Mr Wardlaw said he wanted this to be more flexible than the IB's extended essay. Students could express their research in different formats. 'Other learning experiences' were similar to the IB's 'Creativity, Action and Service'. Mr Wardlaw refuted suggestions that less popular subjects such as art would be marginalized. Art will be an elective subject. It also features in liberal studies and the other learning experiences. 'The success of this reform depends on low demand subjects being able to survive,' he said. 'But we will hear people saying 'where are my subjects?' We say they are there, reframed and re-ordered.' The new framework was designed for Hong Kong's particular needs. 'What everyone wants - whether universities or small and medium sized enterprises - is people who are proficient in languages, who have a strong understanding of maths and have good general knowledge of the critical issues facing society, problem solving skills and critical thinking.' Mr Wardlaw sees the abolition of the HKCEE as a key to the viability of the reform. 'The HKCEE is an unnecessary selection device which wastes a lot of students' time and effort,' he said. 'It sets up a blocker for student learning.' The six-year secondary structure may be one less than the current seven years for those admitted to A-level courses. But without the HKCEE, there will, in fact, be just two months less formal study time. Mr Wardlaw pointed out that one of the key differences between the British and Hong Kong reforms was that here they included changes at university-level. Schools would be able to adopt the spirit of the new curriculum as universities broadened their admission criteria with the arrival of four-year university courses. Those who didn't go to university could go straight to associate degree courses. But there are concerns that the senior secondary curriculum is narrow, offering students just two or three elective subjects. Professor Frederick Leung Chi-ching, dean of science at the University of Hong Kong and a member of the Curriculum Development Council's Secondary School Science Curriculum Committee, said that although he supported the new structure, he opposed forcing students to select a limited number of electives too early. This could reinforce science and arts streams in schools rather than abolish them, he said. He will recommend a modular system instead. 'The 3+3+4 system could be worse because you can have students who don't take any science or any humanities,' he said. Liberal studies would not compensate. But Mr Wardlaw said students need not necessarily be locked into choices. They would be able to switch subjects. 'Senior Secondary One will be more of a foundation year where students can explore their aptitudes and abilities,' he said. 'What we want is the most flexible framework possible.' But he accepts that implementation of such flexibility will be a challenge for schools. 'The way schools are organised - that is where we need a lot of work,' he said. Extensive work will now be done with school leaders to prepare for more creative timetabling. 'We have got to work together to free up the culture,' he said. After his lecture, Professor Cheng said: 'I am very supportive of the new structure, but it is already too late.' Relaxing the exam system would give schools more room to manoeuvre. 'But I am afraid we have to do a lot of other things. The pressure cooker can only be released when university admission changes.' The consultation paper Reforming the Academic Structure for Senoir Secondary Education and Higher Education is available on the EMB's website, at www.emb.gov.hk