TSA fears blow up again with 40 per cent of Hong Kong Primary Three pupils now set to sit contentious test
Just last month Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung said only 10 per cent of the children would need to take the Territory-wide System Assessment
Four times as many children in Hong Kong as had been expected will have to sit a controversial assessment, with lawmakers warning that the pupils could be put under undue pressure.
It was revealed on Friday that nearly 40 per cent of Primary Three pupils would have to sit the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) this year although Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung Yun-hung announced just last month that the number would be 10 per cent.
The TSA, which gauges English, Chinese and maths ability, is associated with teachers drilling pupils amid a widespread belief that the Education Bureau uses the data to rank schools – a claim officials deny. About 20,000 pupils would need to take the assessment.
Under a revised plan unveiled last month, the test would mainly be held this year using a random sampling method to select 10 per cent of pupils from each of the 500 public and subsidised primary schools around the city.
Names of pupils and schools would not be recorded, and reports would not be provided to whose schools where only 10 per cent sat the test. However, a school would be able to obtain internal reports on its pupils’ performance if all their Primary Three children took the test.