The Diocese encourages Catholic kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to form a "through-train" so that they may cherish the same ideals, dovetail their curricula and reduce pupils' examination pressure. At the same time, there has been a curtailment and overhaul of the entire curriculum with a view to allocating more time for strengthening pupils' moral education and their training in group life. In future, the "through-train" concept should further not be confined to kindergartens, primary and secondary schools; the Diocese should also develop a comprehensive system and curriculum from kindergartens, primary and secondary schools to community colleges and university. As far as possible, the Diocese should put into effect the principles of “through train” and “schooling in the neighbourhood”; it should also help parents to realize the importance of spiritual education in the upbringing of children. In the light of the present circumstances in Hong Kong, the founding of a Catholic university and community colleges are urgent priorities. (See Recommendation 7 below, on the Establishment of a Catholic University and Community Colleges.)

Catholic education should be for an "all-round development of the total personality" and should be orientated towards the students themselves. Schools should make an appropriate curtailment and consolidation of their curricula, so as to comply with students' needs, reduce their pressure from studies and allow more time for developing their total personalities. They should also use technological support to develop interactive learning and develop a "school-based curriculum" or even "class-based curricula”.

As far as possible, Catholic kindergartens should accept or apply for government subsidies, e.g. Quality Education Fund, in order to improve children’s education. In their curricular design, kindergartens should take into consideration children’s psychological, mental and physical development. The contents of the curriculum should not be too difficult; it must not make children lose interest in learning.

Lifelong learning is being an essential element in human growth, the Catholic Church in Hong Kong has been operating pre-vocational and vocation schools and institutes of adult education so as to provide educational opportunities for students who cannot benefit from conventional teaching approaches in secondary grammar schools, and also to enable working adults to pursue vocational studies. In future, community colleges should be developed for the benefit of the general public, enabling them to pursue post secondary studies according to their own aptitudes, time schedules and needs. Caritas can play an important role in this area, by providing for the benefit of working adults, suitable courses of adult education in tune with the changes in knowledge. The College of Theology and Philosophy of the Holy Spirit Seminary should offer popular extension courses, to be pursued by people who wish to study the Catholic faith.

3.1.3 Religious and Moral Courses (17)

The Diocese should formulate guidelines for standardized gradual curricula for religious and moral studies. It should produce teaching materials which are related to people's daily life and in keeping with the times, and which help the younger generation build up a positive outlook on life replete with true love. These teaching materials should guide them to adopt Christ and His perfect personality as their own model, i.e. using imitation of Christ’s spirit of love and service as an infinite motivation in their search for perfection. At the same time, experiences in daily life should often be quoted to stimulate students to brood over problems concerning the value of life, find their own directions in life and foster sound concepts of values. Social issues such as single parent families, new immigrants, the ‘money talks’ policy, materialism, sex and violence, etc. should be discussed on the basis of ethical principles and Christian love. Besides, edifying and heuristic religious books should be introduced to students so as to give them opportunities to get in touch with the Lord Jesus and to have a personal experience of His love.

Religious curriculum should have two components: formal and informal, which permeate, or liaise with, different subjects and all kinds of activities. Religious dimension should not stop at the planes of experience and thinking, it should go further and deeper into those related to the meaning of life and concepts of values. In consonance with such a dimension, Catholic schools should form a Religious Group or a School-based Values Group dedicated to enhancing religious education to meet the mission goals of the school or the priority objectives of the relevant year.

Moral courses should help students to cherish human dignity and basic rights, honesty, fairness, justice, integrity, self-sacrifice and altruism, filial piety, respect for life, diligence, frugality, harmony, peace, reconciliation, tolerance and acceptance, care for and appreciation of the needs of underprivileged groups. The courses should also foster students’ eagerness to serve people in need, strengthen students’ sense of environmental and civic responsibility, and make them cherish the bond of brotherhood that makes all human beings one.

The contents and teaching approaches of religious and moral courses should fit in with the levels of various classes. The courses should cover human ethics, the spirit of the Gospel, the meanings of Church rites and rituals, the social value of the faith, the relations between the development of high technology and mass media. When dealing with the values promoted by the Catholic Church, there should be a greater contrasting exposure to traditional Chinese concepts, so as to create links with the Chinese cultural root of the people of Hong Kong.

The top priority is to compile textbooks that fit in with the Certificate of Education Examination, which would solve the pedagogical difficulties of teachers on the one hand, and on the other, would help students to face the public examination. Provided that the teaching materials are compiled and presented in a lively manner in accord with the times, they will be welcomed by students in secondary four and five classes, and will thereby reap the added benefit of evangelization.

The Special Assembly for Asia of the Synod of Bishops which took place in 1999 emphasized that "the separation between the Gospel and culture is a tragedy of our times; it deals a heavy blow to evangelization and culture". The message promulgated by Catholicism is to “Love God and Man” and to appreciate and protect those cultures of various peoples that honour God and love man.

The Church has a deep conviction that the culture of a nation is not separated from her language. Hence, students must strengthen the learning of their mother tongue so as to lay a firm foundation for their own culture. As the use of mother tongue as medium of teaching enables more students to understand and to learn better, endeavours should be made to remove the public's misunderstanding about the use of mother tongue and to help them to realize the effect and significance of adopting mother tongue as medium of teaching. Nevertheless, because of Hong Kong's status as an international economic and cultural centre, all walks of life have high demands for proficiency in both Chinese and English. In addition to taking an active role in promoting Chinese language and culture, therefore, Catholic schools should enhance students 'knowledge of and proficiency in English. This is because proficiency in both Chinese and English and a pluralistic approach to teaching are necessary.

In order to promote Chinese culture, the school curriculum should include Chinese literary works and selected readings from ancient writings, which will help students to get to know and identify themselves with the time-honoured magnificent culture of their fatherland. Such selected readings will also help students to appreciate and implement the special traits and teachings of traditional Chinese morals, such as filial piety, sincerity, honesty, trustworthiness, kindness, peacefulness, esteem for teachers and their teachings, eagerness to learn, diligence, thrift, courage to serve a just cause, love of life, respect for the elderly, moderation in all things, self-sanctification for public service, the brotherhood of mankind, civic responsibility for the global community, etc. The school curriculum should also include an extensive introduction to Chinese adages which contain the popular wisdom of the Chinese people. These adages have been handed down through the centuries and have been on almost everybody's lips so that they have worked on common people's life styles and attitudes, and thus deserve being called one of the invaluable treasures of Chinese culture. The inclusion of Chinese literary works, selected readings from ancient writings and the Chinese sayings and adages in the school curriculum serves to assist students, on the one hand, to gain a personal knowledge of, and identify themselves with, what represents their own "root", and, on the otherhand, to drink in the essence of the moral messages and translate it into action in their daily life.

There is also a need to get an in-depth understanding of the culture of the modern youth so as to be able to give them effective guidance and to introduce the Gospel to them. No matter how hard Catholic schools may try, they will not succeed in preventing the invasion of the unhealthy customs, trends and culture of society. Catholic schools cannot protect their own virtue in isolation from the rest of the world. Rather they must criticize the errors of the times and launch counter currents of culture for students' choice. Such counter currents may revert the trends and prevail over them. The spirit of the Gospel in Catholicism and the treasures of civilization in Chinese culture lead to the same Truth by different routes. We should integrate the two so that hand in hand they might do a more effective job of spreading the Gospel and providing pastoral care to the youth of Hong Kong.

Schools should strengthen physical education and sports activities and foster physical and mental health. They should help students to form the habit of engaging in daily physical exercises; guide them in managing their time between work, pleasure and rest; assist them to develop pastimes and hobbies that are conducive to physical and mental health, to know how to relax and how to reduce and remove mental strain, and to gain a sound understanding of food and beverages hygiene, nutrition and mental health. All this will enable students to become persons sound in body and mind, who are always in high spirits and full of vitality, take a positive and proactive attitude in all matters, and are ready to rise to challenges.

Schools should use extensively an elicitation approach to teaching. The beauty of teaching lies in training students' ability to observe, imagine, infer, discern, and solve problems, and also in inspiring and fostering students' interest in self-motivated and self-initiated studies, in forming a lifelong unswerving eagerness to learn, and a strong determination for continual improvement.

In the teaching of various courses, care should be taken to integrate the knowledge from various sources in the light of the Gospel and to lead students to the eternal fountain of all knowledge. (19)

Catholic schools should be committed to providing students with a healthy and correct outlook on life, specially by introducing to them the spirit of the Gospel and the fine elements in Chinese culture. There is a need for all the teaching and non-teaching staff of the school to join in to create a religious atmosphere. This cannot be the duty of the teachers of a single subject.

There ought to be suitable exhibits and decorations on the campus of a Catholic school, which enable teachers, students and visitors to feel a religious ambience. Schools should therefore install or display within their campus the statues of patron saints, crucifixes, verses from the Bible, etc. as symbols of faith. When possible, schools should establish a chapel or a prayer room, provide a quiet place where staff and students can pray and meditate. Schools should set aside a religious section in the school library, where religious books and church publications are available, thus providing staff and students with opportunities to learn about and deepen their faith.

Catholic schools should live in the blessings and grace of God. Therefore, each day of campus life ought to begin and end with prayers. Schools should design different, lively and varied forms of prayers for the morning assembly and for the ending of classes. This will allow the students to realize the constant linkage between faith and life. Apart from Biblical studies and moral education courses, schools should set aside time for religious activities, such as arranging scripture readings, thanksgiving masses, preaching, faith and life camps, retreats, etc in accordance with different Liturgical seasons. If possible, contests and appreciation sessions related to religious arts (like hymns, Gospel plays, ritual dances, paintings, wall newspapers, essays, etc.) should be organized so as to strengthen staff and students' knowledge about the Church and the practice of their faith. There is a need to organize Catholic Students Societies and Catholic Staff Associations for the purpose of strengthening the links among Catholic students and staff.

Schools should organize annual religious activities days, inviting spiritual directors to promote Catholic students' and staff's religious practice and enhance their spiritual development.

In order to enhance their interest and fit in with their needs, students and staff should be invited to join hands in planning and organizing various religious activities.

Student days are the most precious times for developing ideals and potentials. Schools should provide all sorts of courses and activities for students to choose from and participate in, so that in the course of their explorations and participation, they will get to know their own inherent aptitudes and interests, and cherish noble values. Schools are mini societies, which are the best places for students to learn to discipline themselves. Apart from organizing activities, contests and games, students unions perform such functions as learning to manage students' welfare, conducting opinion surveys, synthesizing views, making constructive recommendations to the school authorities.

To sum up, campus life should emphasize the formation of students' gregarious and democratic attitudes, moral awakening and spiritual growth. Students should be helped to develop their potentials and strengths and to care about schoolmates, their own school and the community at large, and to be eager to make positive contributions to society.

Schools should employ professionals to assume responsibility for administering pastoral care to their students, for instance, clergy, religious, or pastoral assistants. They should strive for each school to have its own chaplain. They can assist students with their religious formation, run catechumen classes, establish small christian communities, organize teachers' Bible reading groups, provide opportunities for all teachers and students to listen to Bible readings, or conduct school-wide liturgical services or prayer gatherings. They can further hold periodical meetings with different classes of students to talk about problems of life and faith, etc. They can also provide individuals or small groups with spiritual counseling.

The school chaplain can assist in the work of fostering the pastoral zeal of the school principals, administrative staff, Catholic and non-Catholic teachers.

Pastoral assistants can coordinate pastoral care activities in the school and the parish. It will be appropriate for schools to employ young lay people to serve as pastoral assistants, for young people will have a stronger appeal for students.

The Diocese should establish a School Pastoral Care Group responsible for studying the possibility and feasibility of "One Chaplain for Each School" and problems relating to the development of such a policy and relevant formation and support. The Group should also provide guidance and support for the current pastoral work in the schools.

Schools should mobilize all teachers to provide counseling to students, encouraging teachers to be students' friends, and counseling them with a friend's heart and in a friendly style. Nobody can exert a more subtle edifying influence on students than a friend who shows loving care and provides them with help. Responsible teachers must do their best to closely observe students' needs, aspirations, psychology and emotions, and strive to assist them in coping with the difficulties they encounter in studies, in life and in making friends.

Catholic schools in Hong Kong can take a leaf from Singapore's book in requiring each student to do some voluntary work every week, so as to form the habit of providing generous service to schoolmates and people in need, with loving care and altruism. For instance, pupils in the lower primary classes can serve as pupils on duty on a rotation basis, with duties relating to cleaning and the maintenance of order in the classroom or on campus. Students in the upper primary classes and in secondary schools, apart from serving as students on duty within the school, can help students in lower classes with their studies, through arrangements made by their teachers. Schools can also make arrangements for students to pay visits and undertake other voluntary work outside. A performance pledge may be made for each student to render one hour of voluntary service every week. Encouraging students to do voluntary work will not only inculcate in them the Christian spirit of service, but will also have the significance of fostering a good ethos and a healthy and positive culture. When a review is made of their voluntary work, students should be invited to examine its effectiveness and limitations, so as to address problems relating to systems and procedures.

Family and society often exert a bigger influence on teenagers and adolescents than the school. Many problem students have grown up in problem families, such as families with single or divorced parents, or those lacking parental care. In order to help students to draw strength from their religious faith and ethical values so as to face their problems with a positive attitude, the Catholic Diocese has published a series of family life education learning units (Love and Life), which provides materials and a teaching approach for the significance of marriage, true meaning of family life, virtue of chastity, sex education, problems of pre-marital sex and co-habitation, human relations and the meaning of life. sex education, human relations and the meaning of life. These units were compiled and written by the teachers themselves, and were published after trial teaching and revisions. It is hoped that these courses will continue to develop into broader and deeper dimensions. The education which schools provide to students may well influence parents, allowing them to absorb correct signals and values, and bringing about positive changes. Channeling through Parents and Teachers Associations, schools can further conduct seminars, experience sharing forums, and special topics learning sessions to provide parents with theories and implementation methods for educating children. Thus, parents will also become targets of education, to enable them to provide the most effective and reliable support for counseling students. For sex education, top choice should be given to talks, activities and support provided by the Catholic Marriage Advisory Council, so as to ensure that the information supplied to students conforms to the Catholic faith.

In order to perform their duty of educating children in a proper manner, parents and schools should adopt a humble attitude when they try to understand children's needs and aspirations at various stages from early childhood to teenage and adolescence, and then, with wisdom and loving care, provide them with proper help. Families and schools must go about this sacred work of educating children hand in hand and supporting each other. Parents and teachers, therefore, should have frequent contacts and exchange views.

Parents and Teachers Associations serve as one of the channels of communication between families and schools. Campus newsletters, teachers' comments written in students' report books, teachers' visits to students' families, teachers' appointments with parents, parents day, new students day, etc. are all conducive to promoting cooperation between parents and teachers.

The Diocese should play a more active role in promoting coordination and communication among various organizations concerned with youth and schools, such as Caritas Hong Kong, Diocesan Youth Commission, Catechetical Centre, Catholic Institute for Religion and Society, Catholic Education Office, Catholic Students' Youth Movement, so that they may contribute to the all-round education of youth in a more effective manner.

The Diocese should strengthen the functions of the Catholic Education Office so that it may play a role in coordinating communication and cooperation among Catholic schools, in making effective uses of the resources of the schools (including human and physical resources, hardware and software), thereby enabling all Catholic schools to develop the relationship of partners in striving to reach their common objectives with one heart and mind. On the other hand, forums or lectures should be organized for the benefit of the prinicpals, staff or teachers of religious studies of various schools to enable them to share experiences, learn from one another’s strengths and make progresses hand in hand.

Diocesan schools and Religious schools should strengthen their communication with one another, find out their common objectives, support one another, and conduct large scale religious activities for all the Catholic schools in Hong Kong (like the "Journey of the Wind" conducted on Mission Sunday in 1998), which are likely to be rewarded with good results. On the other hand, individual schools should use their specialties and resources to develop their strengths in order to serve the best interests of their students.

It is recommended to establish a liaison organization (like the Federation of Catholic Students) with full-time paid staff entrusted with the responsibility of promoting the development of youth groups in Catholic schools and the launching of religious activities. The Youth Commission or the Students’ Youth Movement may assume this responsibility. Activities can also be organized on a regional basis, for instance, for the benefit of all the schools within the same Deanery. These may well be spiritual and counseling activities organized for school chaplains, teenage catechumens, teachers and students. These may also be sharing gatherings for committee members and advisers of Catholic Students Societies, which may lead to inter-school functions.

Catholic organizations, like Caritas, can provide housewives with parenting courses, to help them understand their children’s living culture, thereby reducing generation gaps.

The Parish Councils in each district should at least once a year convene district-wide meetings or forums, inviting Church institutions (schools, district centres, hospitals or homes for the elderly, etc.) to send delegates to attend, for the purpose of strengthening communication, and developing collaboration for the benefit of the whole district. Such collaboration may include providing space for gatherings and providing care for the youth, launching youth centres with special emphasis on the healthy growth of the younger generation. Parishes may lengthen their opening hours (which will necessitate the employment of evening staff) to provide students with self-study rooms and the youth with space for cultural and recreational activities. This will strengthen the parishes' links with the district and enable them to be in rapport with young people.

It is recommended to encourage parishes to run Sunday schools for the kindergartens and primary schools within the district, so that pupils' faith formation may begin at an early age. Parishes and schools should coordinate their faith formation work for children who have been baptized. As far as Christian living is concerned, the administering of the Sacraments is the responsibility of the parish. For instance, instructions before First Communion and Confirmation are to be provided by the Sunday School. This will permit children to establish a close family relationship with the Church. The parishes may also invite teachers who are in charge of religious formation to come and provide support for the formation of students in the parishes.

The Parishes can cooperate with Caritas to offer leisure and hobby courses to help reduce pressures. In daily lives and literacy and social classes to help the elderly to get along with others.

All Catholic schools, be they run by religious congregations, the Diocese or Caritas, should maintain a collaborative relationship with the Diocese and the parishes. Schools should participate in and publicize the important activities in the Diocese and the parish. They should also encourage students to attend activities in the Diocese and in the nearby church, like visiting the Cathedral and other churches and taking part in the liturgy, the Sunday school and activities of the parish to which they belong. Organized activities may include providing students with opportunities to help the elderly and children in the parish.

Schools should have close links with the parish to which they belong, and provide active support to, and take part in, parish activities. School representatives should hold periodical meetings with the clergy of the parish to discuss matters relating to collaboration.

Catholic schools can organize catechumen classes. They may invite parents and devout lay people to help with pastoral work in the schools. If they are short of teaching manpower, they may seek help or referral in the parish. It is recommended that the parish follow up with the religious life of baptized students and their participation in the Sacraments so as to prevent students’ faith coming to an end after leaving school.

Sponsoring Bodies must further set up a formation mechanism which enables all fellow educators to drink in the Catholic educational spirit and to make unswerving and persevering endeavours to achieve their schools’ mission goals. This mechanism will do its best to provide educators with the necessary environment and support, to enable them: to realize that their education work is a special vocation in Christ, thereby giving them a strong sense of mission in performing their duties; helping them as persons to achieve renewal and sanctification in Christ and advance towards an all-round development of the total personality, so as to bring about an early advent of the kingdom of heaven on earth.

Teachers are instructors who should educate students by practising what they teach. Catholic teachers need to share pastoral work. Principals and teachers should set good examples in their speech and action. All non-teaching staff, including minor staff, should maintain a good attitude of service. Such behaviour will exert a positive influence on students.

In order to actively promote religious education, the supervisors and principals of Catholic schools should be assumed by the clergy, religious or lay people who have a zealous commitment to religious education. Religious studies, Biblical studies and moral education should be taught by Catholic teachers who are dedicated to evangelization and have the necessary knowledge and training in the subjects concerned.

Apart from possessing the necessary academic qualifications, all Catholic educators, including supervisors, managers, principals, panel chairpersons and teachers of religious studies, should preferably have pursued Religious Studies in the Catechetical Centre, the Holy Spirit Seminary College of Theology and Philosophy or the Diploma Programmes of the Hong Kong Catholic Biblical Institute, or have obtained equivalent qualifications from institutions elsewhere in the world which are recognized by the Catholic Church. This would hopefully facilitate evangelization in keeping with the local culture and the propagation of the spirit of the Gospel with a lively approach.

The Diocese should provide more religious formation to the principals and Catholic teachers of all Catholic schools (including secondary and primary schools and kindergartens). It should give clear indications to non-Catholic teachers, requesting them to respect the position of the Church. The Diocese should also provide pastoral workers and teachers in the schools with the support they need. The Diocese should, through arrangements with Caritas, establish a team of outreaching social workers in each district, devoting their time to counseling students who need it.

Catholic teachers should live their faith and should have on going training so that they can conduct activities of evangelization. Schools should therefore encourage and subsidize Catholic teachers in continually pursuing theological programmes which include religious studies, Biblical studies, moral education, catechism, pastoral care, etc. Institutions within the Diocese, like the Catechetical Centre, Catholic Biblical Institute, the College of Theology and Philosophy, should offer more short-term, year-long or credit-bearing programmes and courses in Theology and Philosophy or courses for the teaching of catechism to meet the needs of teachers. Teachers should be allowed to choose from a whole range of courses from the introductory level to degree standard, so as to suit their needs.

The non-teaching workload of teachers, particularly of Catholic teachers, ought to be reduced if possible, so as to permit them to pay attention to students’ general and spiritual needs. Specially, there is a need to reduce the teaching hours of Catholic teachers to enable them to look after extracurricular activities of religious nature. Schools may well arrange annual retreats for all the teaching and non-teaching staff so as to strengthen their spiritual formation.

Schools should strengthen the teaching and non-teaching staff’s sense of mission while working in the school. It should be emphasized to Catholic teachers that besides their ordinary duties, they should assume responsibilities in spreading the Gospel. Schools should therefore provide teachers, particularly Catholic teachers, with opportunities for spiritual development and formation. This will help them to instill the Christian spirit into their teaching work and make their teaching a channel for evangelization. In order to achieve this objective, schools should arrange spiritual activities for Catholic teachers on a periodical basis, including annual retreats, gatherings of small christian communities (which ought to be established within the school for Catholic teaching and non-teaching staff), Biblical sharings, etc. With a view to promoting the Christian spirit of mutual aid, love and support, non-Catholic teaching and non-teaching staff can be invited to join such gatherings; this might reap the benefit of evangelization.