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Support Services for Schools
In addition to carrying out QA inspections, QAD also renders the following support services to schools with a view to helping schools enhance the quality of learning and teaching:
• In the 2001/02 academic year, the ED continued to disseminate the good practices identified during QA inspections through experience-sharing seminars. Two seminars were organised on issues common to schools at large. They were attended by a total of 737 participants. Response was positive, with over 80% of the participants regarding the seminars as useful and the content as good. To further promulgate the good practices identified during QA inspections, the ED also continued to invite schools to share their good practices on the ED homepage. A total of 22 contributions were uploaded in the 2001/02 academic year. They focussed on good practices at school level. The QAI web site (http://www.emb.gov.hk/qai/QAI%20website/
E-Qai%20Website/index.html) is constantly updated with contributions from schools.
• The ED continued to assist schools in enhancing the effectiveness of learning and teaching of specific subjects by organising district-based experience-sharing seminars under the District Teacher Network Scheme. Since its inception in 2000, this Scheme has brought about further momentum for promoting experience exchange and dissemination of good practices in learning and teaching, which is conducive to raising the professional standard of teachers.
In 2001/02, the Scheme organised an international educational conference, 24 territory-wide seminars, 48 district-based seminars, 65 workshops, 96 inter-school sharing activities, an exhibition and 6 Mainland Study Tours with a total number of 12,050 participants from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. Besides, 18 VCDs, 4 CD-ROMs and 21 publications on the teaching practices disseminated were produced and distributed to schools for teachers’ reference. The evaluation through questionnaires revealed that
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• The range of advisory and supporting services offered by the ED included publishing newsletters, bulletins, pamphlets and resource materials for distribution to schools. In-service teacher education programmes (INSTEP) to improve the quality of teaching were held on a regular basis. In 2001/02, QAD organised 119 events of INSTEP with a total number of 10,585 participants from primary and secondary schools.
• In 2001/02, three QA Support (QAS) Teams were established through the redeployment of manpower resources within the Inspection Section to render post-inspection support to the schools that had undergone QA inspection in the 2000/01 academic year. Post-inspection support activities such as seminars and workshops for clusters of schools, on-site consultancy services and networks within and across districts were organised to help enhance the schools’ capacity for sustained self-improvement. The focus of the post-QAI support service was on macro issues at school level.
ED is reviewing the provision of school support, and partnership amongst the various Divisions in line with their remits is forged in rendering school support.
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