Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2001

Some of the subjects o n offer at the Universit y may not have equivalents a t a lower level i n secondary schools. To promote such subjects among secondar y school students, different department s employ different strategies. For example, to introduce the unique features of the humanities and to publicize newly developed interdisciplinary programmes such as the Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies Programme, the Faculty of Arts made special efforts to produce various publications for the reference of school principals and teachers, in the hope that when giving students advice o n subject selection the y w i l l not emphasize academic performance at the expense of I the true interest of the students, or believe that the best students always choose science. Prof. Michael Hu i, associate dean (undergraduate studies) of the Faculty of Business Administration, also said that the emphasis of f a c u l t y 's admissions criteria has shifted from pure academic performance to include leadership and social skills as well as extracurricular performance. Those w i th diverse talents make up five to 10 per cent of the total number of new students admitted by the faculty. •Preparin g fo r a Four-yea r Curriculum Structure In his 2001 policy address, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR mentioned his full support for a four-year c u r r i c u l um i n the universities, wh i c h w o u l d be implemented w i t h i n 10 years. This means the secondary school curriculum may also need to change from seven years to six. University Registrar Prof. Richard H o said that wa y before the policy address. The Chinese University had set up committees to address the issue. He pointed ou t that w i t h an extra year, universities can arrange more genera l education courses and students w i l l have more room for independent thinking. He also believed that, in a four year system, major subjects wo u ld not we i gh to o heavily in the first year, and admissions criteria could be more flexible. Students might be allowed to try out certain subjects after they have been admitted and decide o n their areas of specialization i n the second year. That way they need not be streamed too early on while at secondary school. Prof. Ho also pointed out that the three-to-four shift is already underway at C U H K on a small scale. The University has been recruiting mainlan d students who need to complete 123 units i n four years (currently Ho n g Kong students complete 99 units in three years). Theoretically the system can be applied to local recruitment b u t because i t i n v o l v e s c u r r i c u l u m changes for secondary schools and extra resources at the university level, it cannot be carried ou t on a large scale. Prof. H o b e l i e v ed that the U n i v e r s i ty has the foundation, experience, and expertise to implement a four-year curriculum wh en the government and secondary schools are ready. Outstanding students recruited from the mainland who are to spend four years on the CUHK campus Working Towards Flexible Admission Policies and an Ideal Curriculum Structure 15