Bulletin No. 1, 2012

4   Chinese University Bulletin No. 1, 2012 Academic structure before September 2006 A Four-Year Curriculum for This Century I n 2000, the Education Commission recommended that more flexibility, coherence and diversity should be instilled into the senior secondary curriculum. In 2003, it proposed a new senior secondary structure that would comprise three years of senior secondary school (and a total of six years of secondary school) and four years of university. The proposal was followed by a consultation paper issued by the government in October 2004, which set out the design blueprint, implementation timetable, and financial arrangements of the ‘3+3+4’ structure. The broad principles for academic structure reform received strong endorsement in early 2005 from CUHK, which immediately set up a task force to prepare for the four-year curriculum. The new system is known as ‘3+3+4’ because it adds an extra year to university studies, while reducing the duration of secondary schooling from seven years to six: three years junior and three years senior secondary leading to the Hong Kong Diploma Senior Secondary (S4–S5) Tertiary Metriculation (S6–S7) Junior Secondary (S1–S3) (3 years) (2 years) (2 years) (3 years) HKCEE ↓ HKALE ↓ HKDSE ( implemented in 2012 ) ↓ The new ‘3+3+4’ academic structure implemented in September 2006 of Secondary Education (HKDSE). The over-arching aim is to help students develop the knowledge and capabilities they will need for the complex and globalized world of the 21st century. The Chinese University is the only institute of higher learning in Hong Kong that is no stranger to the four-year system, having adopted one since its establishment in 1963 to 1994 when, in alignment with government policy then, it switched to a flexible credit unit system that allowed completion of the degree in three years after Secondary 7. The new curriculum that’s in place in September 2012, however, does not revert to the old model, but is designed afresh for the 21st century, based on CUHK’s experience and its aspirations as articulated in its Strategic Plan (2006). Does the University’s experience with a four-year curriculum make a difference to its preparation for the conversion? Prof. Benjamin W. Wah , Provost Senior Secondary (S4–S6) Tertiary Junior Secondary (S1–S3) (3 years) (3 years) (4 years) ( implemented in Sep 2012 ) 8 8 8 8 8