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Q Do you think the English results are acceptable?

Is the sample of writing attached to this article genuine? If so, I am shocked that any parent or teacher would give permission to humiliate a student in this manner. I think the main problem here is morale ... from the students on up.

Eleanor Jones, Naha, Japan

A 25 per cent failure rate is not acceptable. The tests only consist of really basic, simple English. If parents cannot offer much assistance at home, then it is up to the teachers. But the English standard of teachers these days is really quite poor compared to, say, three decades ago.

So if children are not taught properly, how can one expect decent results? The government should provide better training and tighten standards for would-be teachers. In your report, it is written that: 'Assessments will be conducted of Primary Three and Primary Six students next year, and of Form Three pupils in 2006.' It should be 'conducted on' instead of 'conducted of'. This is probably a typo but please try to be more careful in future.

K.M. Tam, Kowloon Tong

At first glance I agreed with the majority view that the assessment forced on Primary Three students was rather impertinent. But now I have changed my mind.

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