During the summer holidays, nearly 60 educators from 12 secondary schools participated in a workshop entitled, "The Future is Now: Vision to Realisation", organised by the Education & Manpower Bureau.

The two-day workshop, engaging school supervisors, principals and senior teachers, provided an opportunity for the school leadership to ponder the challenges of the reform in a systematic manner and formulate school-based action plans and timetables.

The reform has far-reaching implications. As it involves public examinations, it brooks no mishap. The bureau has already formulated a master plan specifying the matters that need to be dealt with in the coming four years and a concrete timetable.

Schools also need to plan ahead for the offering of elective subjects under the new senior secondary curricula to cater for students' interest and aptitudes and arrange for teachers to undergo professional training to be fully prepared for implementing the new academic structure.

School leaders participating in the workshop all played an active part in discussion by exchanging views on the implementation of the new structure. Sponsoring bodies' participation not only demonstrated their partnership with the bureau, but was also a tremendous boost to the morale of the principals and teachers.

The workshop brought together the collective wisdom of frontline educators and the concerted efforts of different parties. It has opened up a new mode of cooperation, and promoted the practice of professional sharing and collaborative learning.

The supervisors, principals and teachers unanimously indicated that the most critical and difficult step was to change the mindset of all the stakeholders, make them understand and focus on the core issue of the reform, that is, what and how students should learn. 

To put ideas of effective learning into practice will require modifications to the teaching methods, assessment modes and school culture. The effort of recent years in basic education reform paves the way for the changes necessary in senior secondary.

The two-day workshop provided a platform for the school leadership to reflect on their school situation and work out the scope of the steps involved in implementing the new academic structure in their schools.

It also facilitated sharing among schools. By organising the workshop, the bureau has been able to get a much clearer picture of the reform progress of individual schools as well as the worries and difficulties faced by the teachers. All this will enable us to render more appropriate and focused support to the schools.

Better cooperation, trust

The educators from these 12 participating schools are scheduled to meet again in three months for a one-day session to share their four-year school-based plans.

The enthusiasm shown by the participants in the workshop has filled me with confidence for the future of education in Hong Kong. Increased cooperation and trust was seen among the schools as well as between the schools and the bureau. 

Everyone was enthusiastic about the reform and full of expectations, but at the same time realised that a lot of hard work lay ahead. The bureau intends to organise similar leadership workshops for all the secondary schools in the coming year. 

I strongly believe that, with concerted efforts, we can succeed in carrying out the new academic reform and create a better future for our younger generation. 

This is an excerpt of a column by Permanent Secretary for Education & Power Fanny Law published on the Education & Manpower Bureau website on September 18.