Hong Kong students to choose how much of Chinese history exam to take
- Under shift taking effect next year, students will be given choice of writing one paper instead of current two when taking Chinese history exam for university entrance exams
- Educations minister says change will boost interest in subject and cater to students’ different needs
Hong Kong’s education minister has said a move allowing students to answer fewer questions on the Chinese history exam for university admission will help boost interest in the subject.
The adjustment, which will allow students to sit only the exam covering the compulsory part of the subject and skip another testing their grasp of more advanced ideas, will better suit the different needs of students, educators have said.
“A lot of experts have said that raising the interest of students in a subject is also very important,” Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Friday. “Besides using the method of examination … students can study different aspects of history based on their interests.”
The minister’s remarks came a day after the government announced students would be given a choice of writing one paper instead of the current two when taking the Chinese history exam for their Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE).
Paper 1 accounts for 70 per cent of their grade, and Paper 2 takes up the remainder. If students took only the first one, their maximum grade would be 5 instead of the full 5**. The arrangement will begin with Form Five students in the next academic year.
Choi argued the change would give students more options in studying the subject, while also catering to their different needs.