It has been almost two years since October 2004 when the Education & Manpower Bureau published the consultation document entitled Reforming the Academic Structure for Senior Secondary Education & Higher Education.

During this period, we have conducted two rounds of consultation on the academic structure, curriculum and methods of assessment. We have listened to and accepted the views of the public and the education sector in these consultations.

The revised New Senior Secondary Curriculum & Assessment Guides (24 subjects in total) were uploaded to the EMB website in June this year.

The Guides are the result of the joint efforts of front-line school teachers and principals, academics and professional subject associations and systematic benchmarking by international organisations and experts.

From September to November, we will launch the third consultation on the new academic structure. The focus is to further consult the school sector on methods of assessment and detailed arrangements for all academic subjects.

The finalised Curriculum & Assessment Guides are expected to be ready in January of next year. These Guides form the critical base upon which we will enter in full scale the preparation stage for implementation of the new academic structure.

Students entering Secondary 1 in September will sit for the first Diploma of Secondary Education examinations in 2012 after completing six years of secondary education.

Generic skills

The education goals of the new century not only require students to possess broad and extensive knowledge, but also focus on developing their generic skills and positive attitudes.

The traditional one-off written examination can no longer fully assess students' learning outcomes. Hence, the method of assessment must be changed to align with the aims of the curriculum.

In the first two rounds of consultation, front-line principals and teachers generally agreed that diversified assessment and school-based assessment could provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of students' overall performance. 

However, they expressed worries over the fairness of school-based assessment and the extra workload which might result. Having regard to the feedback received, the Examinations & Assessment Authority has assessed the overall workload of school-based assessment in relation to the nature of each academic subject and proposed in this new round of consultation to lower the requirement and weighting of an school-based assessment component and by emphasising in the design of learning outcomes which could be better demonstrated by students in school-based assessment approaches.

The EAA suggested a step-by-step approach whereby, building on the present foundation, the development of school-based assessment would be further consolidated and its scope extended gradually.

Reduce workload

As regards the subjects to which school-based assessment is yet to be applied (such as mathematics), options and transitional arrangements will be provided to give teachers space and time to integrate school-based assessment into daily teaching activities, hence reducing extra workload on them.

In the early stage of the assessment reform, the EAA will lay down guidelines on expected outcomes, task designs and assignment marking and provide a platform for sharing of hands-on experience.

At the same time, careful consideration has been given to the impact on student workload in the senior secondary years.

EAA has developed robust mechanisms to ensure the fairness of school-based assessment. There is substantial evidence that school-based assessment can improve both reliability and validity of assessments of student performance.

In the coming two months, we will conduct over 60 consultation sessions in different regions to discuss with front-line teachers the Curriculum & Assessment Guides of different subjects. For details, schools can visit EMB's 334 website or refer to the documents issued to schools.

To listen to the voice of front-line educators, we will invite the tertiary education sector and professional bodies on various subjects to participate in the consultation sessions.

Views sought

We hope that every principal and teacher will spend some time studying and discussing in detail the Curriculum & Assessment Guides and express their views enthusiastically in the consultation sessions or via email and letters.

Their feedback will enable us to have a grasp of the problems that we may encounter in implementing the new curriculum and assessment mode, and make timely and appropriate adjustments, thus ensuring a smooth progress of the reform.

Questionnaires will be issued to schools before the consultation ends. Schools will be asked to list the subjects they plan to offer and to evaluate and plan the resources and staffing arrangements to meet the requirements laid down in the guides of the subjects.

Schools are also encouraged to offer electives such as other languages, literature in English and visual arts that are less popular among students and to allow students of other schools to enrol in these subjects.

This will ensure we use the expertise of teachers and also provide students with more subject choices. The EMB will consider helping schools to offer these subjects with the Diversity Learning Grant.

We would also like to listen to the views of parents and members of the public during the consultation to see if we should allow students to take more than seven subjects in the DSE examinations in any one year.

Balanced development

In principle, we would like our students to have a balanced development and participate actively in community services, aesthetic and physical activities.

We anticipate nearly all students will be fully occupied taking a programme including four core subjects and two or three electives and structured Other Learning Experiences. The elective subjects can include any of the 20 electives or an applied learning course (formerly known as career-oriented studies).

However, we also understand that a small number of students with greater capacity and diverse interests may wish to take another subject in addition to the three electives. For instance, ethics and religious studies might be important as part of a school's mission and moral and civic education.

A third language, such as French, German or Japanese, might be another example of a fourth elective. We believe that this is also conducive to whole-person development.

The introduction of the new senior secondary academic structure is a major reform with far-reaching implications. Public examinations are an integral part of this reform, the smooth implementation of which hinges on the collaboration and support of all the parties concerned.

We sincerely hope that all stakeholders will work together in full partnership and participate actively in this consultation exercise. With our front-line teachers, principals and academics working alongside the EMB and EAA, we will succeed in building a better academic structure and a brighter future for our children with our collective wisdom and concerted efforts.

(Permanent Secretary for Education & Manpower Fanny Law published this essay on the Education & Manpower Bureau website in her Realising the Vision of 334 series.)