[Archive] Foreword

In the academic year 2000/01, Quality Assurance (QA) Inspection has been conducted in 50 schools. This year also saw a mix in the schools being chosen, some having volunteered for inspection, and others being chosen by random sampling. There was also a pilot project in four schools, where a "simplified mode" of inspection was conducted. The latter's aim was to ascertain the possibility of "speeding up" the whole process of QA inspection in order that more schools could be covered in the near future. Starting from 2000/01, inspection of 20 kindergartens has been conducted in the mode QA inspection.

This annual report summarises the major findings on the general performance of these schools. It covers both their strengths and areas for improvement identified and gives a statistical summary of their performance by area and aspect of the work done.

Although the findings for this year's inspection only pertain to the schools inspected, similar key issues identified over the past few years speak for some common phenomena among Hong Kong schools alike and warrant our special attention. In this report, we have added a special "Reflection on Inspection Findings" in the hope that these issues could be highlighted and draw the immediate attention and action of stakeholders.

Schools have gradually come to recognise the importance of an external audit, and in general have been positive. This annual report has been the joint effort of the QA inspection teams and the schools involved. We look forward to a continued co-operation between the inspection teams and schools in our effort to provide quality education for our children.