Government addresses parent concerns and says drilling students is unnecessary
The government has repeated its pleas for primary schools not to drill students for non-essential assessments held at the end of this term.
The assessments are intended to be low-stakes tests that do not directly affect students' academic careers. But primary school heads say it is unreasonable for the government to expect schools not to be concerned about the outcome of the tests as they will ultimately affect the banding of students in subsequent years. Teachers also fear they could be used as the basis for closing schools.
Writing in an article posted on the Education and Manpower Bureau's website this week, chief school development officer Betty Leung Suet-mui addressed concerns raised in 'feedback from parents and recent news reports' regarding drilling and excessive preparation for the territory-wide system assessment (TSA) and the pre-Secondary One Hong Kong attainment test (HKAT).
These included accusations that schools were cancelling physical education and music classes to use the time to prepare for the tests, and were cutting back on extra-curricular activities to hold students back for tutorial classes after school and at weekends. Some schools were believed to have instructed parents to buy practice books and to have their children do extensive practice for the tests.
'We want to stress that the TSA and pre-Secondary One HKAT are low-stakes assessment, [whose] results will not affect the academic pathways of individual students and should not increase pressure on them,' Ms Leung wrote.