Hong Kong’s largest teacher body claims most instructors still felt pressure to drill for revised controversial exam

Nearly 90 per cent of Hong Kong teachers said a revamped competence assessment carried out last school year had pressured them to drill pupils despite it being a simpler version, the city’s largest organisation for the profession found.

The poll released on Sunday by the Professional Teachers’ Union also revealed that while officials had yet to announce whether the unpopular exam would continue next year, close to 40 per cent of schools continued to make youngsters do related practices or have additional classes. The survey included 1,741 primary schoolteachers.

In light of the finding, the union urged the assessment be suspended until a proper review could be done.

Administered across the city, the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) was designed to enhance learning and teaching by providing the government with data to review policies.

But in recent years, the assessment, particularly the version for Primary Three, has become associated with teachers drilling pupils amid a widespread belief that the Education Bureau uses data to rank schools. The bureau has repeatedly denied such claims.