Preliminary Recommendations of the Task Force on Home-School Co-operation and Parent Education

 

Submitted to the Secretary of the Task Force on Home-School Co-operation and Parent Education

6th September, 2018

Views by the Executive Committee of HKAHSS on the Consultation Paper regarding the Preliminary Recommendations of the Task Force on Home-School Co-operation and Parent Education

中文原文

1. To nurture the next generation, parents are children’s first teachers in setting their values to attain an all-round development. The Executive Committee of HKAHSS supports the vision of the “Task Force on Home-School Co-operation and Parent Education” to review and further enhance parent education and home-school cooperation which will contribute to children’s healthy development.
2. Five of the seven strategies proposed in paragraph 13 of the Consultation Paper with items (i), (ii), (v), (vi) and (vii) are directly and indirectly related to schools. Items (v) and (vi) of the proposed improvement measures in paragraph 14 of the Paper also suggest the Education Bureau increase the number of and subsidies for home-school co-operation activities and parent education. However, we need to note that the core business of schools should be on teaching and learning as well as student support and development. To cater for enhanced home school cooperation and parent education, schools should be given more resources both in terms of finance and manpower so that schools and teachers would not be side-tracked from their primary concerns.
3. The Executive Committee notes that item (xii) in paragraph 20 of the Consultation Paper regarding the Task Force on School-based Management Policy proposes to provide schools with administrative support staff possessing university degrees qualifications. We consider that these posts should be set up as soon as possible to promote work related to home-school cooperation and parent education. This will truly ease the workload of teachers and allow them to focus on their teaching.
4. As far as immediate measures are concerned, the Executive Committee is in favour of the government’s increase in the resources currently given to PTA in schools and joint PTA in different areas to organise home-school cooperation activities.
5. Regarding the parent education programmes for parents whose children are with special needs, the Task Force on Children and Youth under the Commission on Poverty proposed in 2005 to consider whether there was a need to provide incentives as an encouragement to motivate parents who were difficult to reach. In the long run, the government should establish a favourable environment, such as offering a variety of solutions not only to facilitate parents to take care of their families, but also to encourage them to participate in parent education and parent-child activities. This will better promote home-school cooperation which will enhance the healthy development of children.
6. The Executive Committee supports the “Happy Kids Campaign” proposed by the Task Force. However, due to the limitation of its terms of reference and structural inadequacies, we are disappointed to note that no comprehensive discussions or review would be carried out on key issues such as the school curriculum, public examinations, university entrance qualifications, and the number of university places. Without any review or changes to these key issues, the “Happy Kids Campaign” will only be reduced to a series of superficial promotional efforts, which will neither help reduce our excessively competitive culture nor will it truly make our children happy.

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二零一八年九月六日 

香港中學校長會執行委員會

對「家校合作及家長教育專責小組」初步建議諮詢文件的意見

English version

敬啟者：

1. 父母是孩子的啟蒙老師，他們的價值觀、教育子女的素質和親子關係對下一代的健康成長和均衡發展十分重要。香港中學校長會執行委員會(執委會) 支持「家校合作及家長教育專責小組」提出的願景：「透過檢視及進一步改善家長教育和家校合作，並透過家校合作，減少過度競爭的文化，照顧兒童的健康、愉快成長。」
2. 文件第13段所提出的七項策略中的五項策略，包括第 (i) 、(ii) 、(v) 、(vi) 和 (vii) 項都是直接和間接與學校有關，文件第14段改善措施的第 (v) 及 (vi) 項亦建議「教育局提供更多資源，增加受資助的家校合作活動及家長教育活動的數目和津貼額，讓學校及家教會舉辦家長教育活動，同時亦要避免增加教師工作。」以及「學校的教師在促進校本家長教育和家校合作方面扮演一個重要角色……」 ，執委會明白學校在推動家校合作及家長教育方面有著重要角色，惟學校的核心任務是學與教和培育學生成長，教育局應認真研究如何能夠提供學校所需要的額外財政資源、人力資源和和建築物空間資源等，讓學校有足夠條件，在執行相關的額外工作時，不會出現問題和不會影響教師專注於核心的教育工作。
3. 執委會留意到同期推出的 「校本管理政策專責小組」諮詢文件第1段第 (xii) 項建議為學校提供持有大學學位的行政支援專責人員，執委會認為教育局應盡快讓學校設置有關職位，把推動家校合作及統籌家長教育工作納入行政支援專責人員的工作範圍，才能真正避免增加教師的非專業工作，讓教師專注於核心的教育工作。
4. 就即時措施而言，執委會贊成政府增加現時給予學校家教會和家教會聯會的資源以舉辦相關的家校合作活動。
5. 就為有特別需要的學童家長提供專為他們而設的家長教育課程方面，「扶貧委員會的兒童及青少年專責小組」早在2005年，已提出考慮是否有需要提供誘因或採取鼓勵措施，藉此推動積極性較低或難以接觸的家長參加課程。執委會建議政府可以從這方面研究具體的誘因或鼓勵措施，例如參考再培訓津貼的安排。長遠而言，政府可營造有利的環境，例如家庭友善政策，提供不同的方法或優惠，方便家長照顧家庭，參加課程或親子活動，促進家校合作，培育子女成長。6
6. 執委會支持小組提倡的「快樂孩子運動」，但小組因職權範圍的限制和體制上的割裂，未能在學校課程、公開考試、大學入學資格和大學學位數量等關鍵的制度性問題上有任何實質探討和改動。執委會擔心「快樂孩子運動」只會淪為一連串的宣傳活動，無助減少過度競爭的文化，不能真正讓孩子快樂。

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香港中學校長會署理主席

 

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鄧振強校長   謹啟

二零一八年九月六日