Deadline for enrolling in trial of simplified version of the exam is extended after Education Bureau falls short of target on school numbers; meanwhile one schools makes plans to replace TSA with a sports day and ‘learning through games’
PEACE.CHIU@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Tuesday, 15 March, 2016, 9:12am
Some parents have complained that preparation for the TSA has placed too much pressure on their children. Photo: Nora Tam
The Education Bureau has extended the deadline for schools to reply on whether they will participate in this year’s Primary Three trial of the Territory-wide System Assessment after the number of schools agreeing to join fell short of the target by the original deadline.
The controversial exam has been suspended this year for most schools, but 50 schools – or 10 per cent of those in the city – were invited to take part in a trial of a simplified version of the scheme.
This came after concerned parents and educators called for the tests to be abolished due to what many said was excessive pressure placed on students by drills to prepare for the exams.
As of Monday, almost 40 schools had told the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority they would participate in the trial, according to a spokeswoman for the bureau. The figure includes schools invited and those participating voluntarily, she said, but she was unable to provide a breakdown.
The bureau was also unable to disclose the number of schools that had rejected the invitation.
The bureau said it would be flexible on the deadline for replies since some schools had said they needed time to discuss it with stakeholders. The original deadline was Monday.
The bureau could not yet specify a new deadline, but said it was targeting having a list of schools taking part by late this month or early next.
Some have called for the tests to be cancelled if the schools cannot be confirmed soon. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Some have called for the tests to be cancelled if the schools cannot be confirmed soon.
Out of four schools the Post spoke to that were invited to participate in the trial, two had rejected the invitation, one accepted, and the fourth declined to comment.
Chu Tsz-wing, principal of Baptist Rainbow Primary School, said it had made the decision not to participate after talks between the school’s council, parents and teachers. Instead, they would be holding a sports day and two days of learning through games.
The school conducted a poll on whether parents wanted children doing the exam or would prefer them to have lessons as usual or a sports and games day.
Ma Kwok-leung, principal of Ng Wah Catholic Primary School, said his school decided to reject the invitation after taking into consideration students’ interests and teachers’ opinions.
“We want learning to be an enjoyable experience for our students,” he said.
At least three schools not invited to the trial are participating in this year’s TSA voluntarily.
Wong Lai-ngor, principal of TKDS Fong Shu Chuen School, said it had volunteered because the school’s curriculum planning benefited from the research findings that came from the TSA.
Wong said the school did not organise drilling sessions, so parents and teachers were not against the idea.
Hung Wai-shing, principal of SKH Tin Shui Wai Ling Oi Primary School, echoed Wong’s view.
“As we do not have additional classes or drilling for our students, parents do not have a negative view of the TSA. So after discussing with parents and teachers, we decided to take part in the assessment voluntarily.”
He added that findings obtained from the TSA were useful in finding out what the school could improve on.
Iris Chan Wai-yee, a curriculum development mistress at Chan’s Creative School (Hong Kong Island), said the school found the TSA to be a useful tool.
“As we do not drill our students, parents of 90 per cent of the students agreed to take the tests voluntarily. The remaining 10 per cent of the students will not need to take part as their parents chose to not have them participate in the assessment,” she said.
Raymond Lai Tsz-man, chairman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, pointed out that if the bureau were to use the schools participating voluntarily to fill in the gaps left by the schools that rejected invitations, it should make sure the sample of schools continued to be representative.
“These schools participating voluntarily might not be of the type [in terms of location and size] needed to fill in the gaps,” he said.
Lai also called for a deadline to be set soon as there needed to be sufficient time to prepare for the assessment in May and June.
“If the bureau keeps pushing the deadline back, I will suggest cancelling the tests this year,” he said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1925095/tsa-fail-trial-revised-form-controversial-exam
