Hong Kong's New Education System:
New Senior Secondary (NSS) Academic Structure and Curriculum
The following information is published by The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), which is an independent statutory institution responsible for the development and administration of public examinations in Hong Kong.
The Changing Education System in Hong Kong
Major reforms have been made to the education system of Hong Kong since 2000. The scope of the reform covers the academic structure, the curricula and the assessment frameworks for primary and secondary schools as well as the admission systems for different stages of education.
These education reforms will enter their crucial phase with the implementation of the new senior secondary struction in September 2009. With the 334 structure in place, (3 years junior secondary, 3 years senior secondary and 4 years undergraduate programme) the first group of secondary school leavers will sit the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination in 2012.
Developed by the HKEAA, the HKDSE will replace both the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE), currently taken by secondary students after Secondary 7, and the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE), taken after Secondary 5. This new qualification will be awarded after six years of secondary study for students to pursue further study or employment.
An Overview of HKDSE
The HKDSE is developed in collaboration with the Education Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the HKEAA is reponsible for the formulation of examination syllabi, the setting and maintenance of standards, the administration of the examinations as well as the reporting of results.
Under the new secondary curriculum there will be three different categories of subjects:
Category A: 24 new senior secondary subjects, comprising four core subjects and twenty elective subjects. The four core subjects are Chinese Language, English Language, Liberal Studies and Mathematics.
Category B: Applied Learning subjects designed to enable students to understand fundamental theories and concepts through application and practice and to develop their generic skills in authentic work contexts.
Category C: Other Language subjects - French, German, Hindi, Japanese, Spanish and Urdu. Students will sit the HKDSE examinations at the end of their three-year senior secondary course and they may take up to a maximum of 8 subjects.
Curriculum and Assessment Guides
Following a series of public consultations, the Curriculum and Assessment Guides for the 24 subjects in the NSS curriculum were finalized in early 2008. During the consultation process, these curriculum and assessment guides were sent to various international organizations based in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands for international benchmarking. Positive feedback was received and their suggestions were incorporated into the revised guides. TheCurriculum and Assessment Guides, which are available on the HKEAA website www.hkeaa.edu.hk, provide useful information on the structure, content and assessment of the 24 subjects.
Sample papers and level descriptors
For each of the 24 subjects, sample papers have been developed and pilot tests have been conducted with these sample papers. Level descriptors and exemplar materials have been prepared by making reference to the performance of students in the pilot tests and the performance of candidates in the corresponding HKALE and HKCEE examinations. It is expected that preparation of draft level descriptors and exemplar materials will be completed by the end of 2008.
The draft sample papers and level descriptors can be downloaded from http://www.hkeaa.edu.hk/en/hkdse/Subject_Information/
Comparison of the Current and New Hong Kong Academic Structure
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