The Education Commission has recommended a three-year senior secondary academic structure be adopted, and that the university academic structure be changed from three to four years.

The commission today endorsed the report by its Working Group on the Review of the Academic Structure for Senior Secondary Education & Interface with Higher Education.

The report recommended a three-year senior secondary academic structure in Hong Kong, which means three-year junior and three-year senior secondary schools to facilitate the development of a more coherent and diversified senior secondary curriculum.

Thirty-four new schools will be needed to create additional senior secondary places and 1,500 more teachers.

There will be only one public examination to replace the two existing tests.

Changing the university structure from three to four years will incur additional non-recurrent expenditure of about $3.8 billion and recurrent expenditure of $1.5 billion, while extending the first-degree programmes of universities by one year will incur additional non-recurrent expenditure of $7.2 billion and recurrent expenditure of $2.3 billion.

Education Commission Chairman Dr Rosanna Wong said adopting a three-year senior secondary academic structure is in line with the overall education and curriculum reform.

The commission recommended the Government draw up a timetable for implementing the new senior secondary academic structure by the 2006-07 school year.

The full report is available on the Education Commission website.