Striving to scale up small class teaching for optimal teaching quality

        According to the findings of international studies, small class teaching (SCT) is an effective teaching strategy in primary education.  Capitalising on the advantages of smaller class sizes, teachers can arrange appropriate teaching activities in accordance with learning objectives and student needs, thereby fostering classroom interactions and enhancing the quality of learning and teaching.

        Teachers’ teaching skills and competence are keys to SCT.  In the 2004/05 school year, the Education Bureau (EDB) commissioned Professor Maurice Galton of the University of Cambridge to conduct research aimed at identifying ways to maximise the benefits of the SCT strategy, leading to recommendations for related teacher professional development activities.  While encouraging the implementation of SCT in primary schools, the EDB organises a variety of professional development programmes to strengthen teachers’ competence in better utilising the small class environment and diverse teaching skills and activities, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of learning and teaching.

        Feedback from the school sector reflects that the implementation of SCT in primary schools can generally increase students’ participation in class, and teachers teaching a smaller class have greater flexibility in adopting different teaching strategies for diversified educational activities.  This has yielded promising outcomes with greater teacher-student and student-student interactions as well as enhanced teaching quality.  

Seizing opportunities to surpass the target

        Since the 2009/10 school year, the EDB has been implementing SCT in public sector primary schools in phases in a flexible and pragmatic manner.  After years of dedicated efforts, about 85% of public sector primary schools in Hong Kong have implemented SCT.

        In the 2022 Policy Address, the Chief Executive set a target to achieve SCT in over 90% of public sector primary schools after two school years (i.e. in the 2025/26 school year), underscoring the Government’s commitment to enhancing the effectiveness of learning and teaching through SCT.

      In order to expedite SCT implementation, the EDB, based on the latest population projections for 2022 and 2023 respectively, reviewed the demand and supply for primary school places in individual districts/school nets and other relevant factors, and decided to further arrange a total of 32 public sector primary schools to implement SCT in the 2024/25 school year.  By then, over 90% of public sector primary schools in Hong Kong will implement SCT, achieving the target indicated in the 2022 Policy Address one year in advance.

        In February 2024, upon reviewing the latest situation, nine additional public sector primary schools were notified to start implementing SCT in the 2025/26 school year.  It is expected that by then, the percentage of public sector primary schools benefitting from SCT will further increase to about 95%.

Sector-wide consensus on implementation in whole school net

     When implementing SCT, the EDB takes into consideration a basket of factors, including the availability of classrooms to meet the demand of school places in individual districts, the needs of school development and the deployment of resources.  Where conditions in an individual school net permit, all public sector primary schools which have yet to implement SCT within the net will implement SCT simultaneously.  This arrangement has generally been supported by the education sector.

     We are grateful to all schools for placing students’ well-being and the enhancement of teaching quality as their top priorities, and working with us to forge ahead with the Government’s SCT policy in public sector primary schools.

Diversified support for professional development

        To maximise the benefits of SCT, schools and teachers must capitalise on the advantages of the small class environment to enhance students’ learning effectiveness.  To this end, the EDB has organised various professional development activities, which include learning communities, seminars, workshops and experience sharing sessions.  Moreover, teacher education institutions have been invited to provide diversified in-service professional development programmes and school-based professional support services.  Through a combination of theoretical learning, classroom practice and experience sharing, teachers are equipped to devise appropriate pedagogical strategies and apply different teaching modes in an SCT environment.  The EDB also provides on-site teacher development workshops for schools newly implementing SCT to assist teachers in grasping the principles of SCT and relevant teaching strategies.

No plan for SCT in secondary school given waning effectiveness with age

        In light of the declining school-age population in recent years, there have been suggestions from the education sector for implementing SCT in secondary schools.  However, we must emphasise that SCT is a teaching strategy aimed at enhancing students’ learning effectiveness and optimising learning and teaching.  As for whether SCT should be implemented in secondary schools, we should prudently consider the current conditions of secondary schools, their learning and teaching environment, as well as international studies and findings on SCT.  Most importantly, we must assess whether the reduction of class size in secondary schools is conducive to enhancing students’ learning effectiveness.

        The curriculum designs for primary and secondary schools are entirely different.  The primary aim of the senior secondary curriculum is to provide students with a broad and balanced curriculum under which they take two or three elective subjects on top of core subjects.  The curriculum is also supplemented by a wide range of activities for “Other Learning Experiences” to broaden students’ horizons and foster their whole-person development.  Therefore, it is essential for schools to maintain an optimal size of student population for providing schools with sufficient flexibility to develop their school-based curricula in the light of their contexts, thereby offering students an appropriate and adequate choice of elective subjects to cater for their interests and needs.

        In fact, findings of international studies have suggested that SCT is most effective when students are of a younger age and its effectiveness tends to diminish with students’ age.  Having regard to the aforementioned considerations, we have no plan to implement SCT at the secondary level.

Pragmatic planning and proactive implementation

        It is an established government policy to implement SCT in public sector primary schools.  The EDB will continue to closely review the latest situation of each district and school net, maintain communication with schools, and assist them to get prepared for early implementation of SCT.  Through prudent and pragmatic planning, coupled with flexible implementation, we hope that more primary school students would benefit from SCT at the earliest opportunity.

3 July 2024