New senior secondary school curriculum leaves students wanting, study finds

Students studying the new senior secondary curriculum believe they are less capable than students who took the old curriculum when it comes to a range of skills that the reformed syllabus is aimed at boosting, a British Council report has found.

But researchers said it may be too early for students to be clear about what skills they had gained from the new curriculum.

Of those who had taken or will take the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE), just 32 per cent see themselves as having the ability to think analytically, having studied the curriculum; 46 per cent of those who studied the old curriculum believe they have such analytical skills.

Only 10 per cent of DSE students believe they can think creatively, compared to 12 per cent of old curriculum students.

The British Council's Education Intelligence unit conducted the research in June, surveying 2,788 students online. It found 69 per cent of respondents had taken or are planning to take the DSE, while 26 per cent of respondents had taken the old public exams - the Certificate of Education Examination and A-levels.

Five per cent of the respondents either did not take public exams in Hong Kong or studied alternative international curriculums.

Zainab Malik, research manager at the British Council unit, said that educators and parents had described DSE students as "better rounded, more analytical and more curious".