The Education Bureau has announced the revision of School-based Assessment, as well as of the curricula and public examinations of some subjects in the New Academic Structure, to help schools plan their teaching arrangements for the next school year early.
Starting from Secondary 4 in September, school-based assessment will not be implemented in seven elective subjects - Chinese History, History, Economics, Ethics & Religious Studies, Geography, Music, and Tourism & Hospitality Studies.
School-based assessment will be further streamlined in three more subjects - Chinese Literature, Health Management & Social Care, and Information & Communication Technology.
School-based assessment for other subjects, such as Visual Arts, Science subjects, and Design & Applied Technology, will continue.
To provide tertiary institutions and employers with more reference in terms of students' performance and attracting more students to study Applied Learning courses, it is recommended that on top of the current two levels of performance, an additional level of performance deemed comparable to Level 4 or above of Category A subjects be introduced.
The three-month consultation on the New Academic Structure Medium-term Review & Beyond has been completed, while the extended consultation on four subjects is being conducted.
The Joint Curriculum Development Council - Hong Kong Examinations & Assessment Authority Public Examinations Board Meeting held yesterday deliberated and endorsed the recommendations on school-based assessment, as well as the curricula and public examinations of some subjects.
Subject committees believe that as school-based assessment of the three core subjects, namely Chinese Language, English Language, and Liberal Studies, has covered important generic skills, school-based assessment of elective subjects should avoid overlap in the skills assessed.
As such, it is recommended that school-based assessment of some elective subjects be scrapped and relevant skills and knowledge be assessed in the public examination as appropriate. Such a recommendation was supported by the majority of teachers and principals in the school questionnaire survey.
The Education Bureau will announce the overall revision of the New Academic Structure Medium-term Review and the future direction in July.
