The following is issued on behalf of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee(QEFSC):
Nominations for the Outstanding School Awards(OSA) scheme, which has undergone extensive consultation and revision, will be invited from June 1, 1999.
"This award scheme not only aims to give recognition and encouragement to schools with excellent practices and performance, but also to foster a quality culture within the school sector to strive for excellence," said Mr Irving Koo, Chairman of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee (QEFSC).
Chairman of the Sub-group on OSA, Dr Francis Cheung said, "We hope that the award criteria and grade descriptors will serve as directional pointers for Hong Kong schools in the pursuit of outstanding practices in teaching and learning."
The Outstanding School Awards are divided into four major education domains, namely:
There is no pre-set limit on the number of awards for each domain. Winners for each Award will receive an award trophy, a certificate and a cash grant of $200,000 to be used for further school development in pursuing excellence.
"Nominators may nominate a school or schools for one or more of the four Outstanding School Awards. Each nomination should be initiated by no fewer than two nominators. Self-nominations are also welcome," Mr Koo said.
"The detailed award criteria and grade descriptors are highly professional tools for reference by education practitioners and schools. While they serve as directional guidelines in setting target levels of performance in the four education domains, the grade descriptors in no way dictate the way a school would be regarded as deserving recognition," said Dr Cheung.
The processing of the OSA nominations will be divided into five stages. The results will be announced by mid-July 2000. There will be feedback sessions for participants and the awardees will be invited to participate in dissemination activities to share their outstanding practices and experience.
The OSA Adjudication Panel will be headed by Dr Lee Quo-wei. Other members of the Adjudication Panel include Mr Moses Cheng, Dr Francis Cheung, Mr Irving Koo, Prof Lee Chi-kin, Prof Lee Wing-on, Mr Li Yuet-ting, Mrs Susanna Tsoi, Prof Rosie Young and the Director of Education.
"We hope that schools which are awarded for their excellent practices and performance will participate in and initiate activities to disseminate their effective educational practices," Mr Koo said.
"We realize that the OSA is but one of the first steps taken to develop the growing culture of quality education in Hong Kong. There is still a long road ahead. The QEFSC will consider how best the good practices of the award-winning schools can be disseminated across the education sector and the teaching profession with a view to fostering this quality education culture," he added.
All mainstream schools in Hong Kong, including schools in the early childhood, primary, secondary and special education sectors registered under the Education Ordinance, and government schools are eligible for nomination for the OSA. The closing date for nominations is October 15, 1999.
Copies of the OSA documents and nomination forms can be obtained from the QEF Secretariat, District Offices, all Provisional Urban Council and Regional Council Public Libraries. The materials are also available for downloading from the QEF website (http://www.info.gov.hk/qef/). The enquiry hotline is 2186 8188.
End/Monday, May 31, 1999