The public views covered many areas of reform, from early childhood education to continuing education. The public generally support enhancing the professional standard of teachers in early childhood education. The public also agree that early childhood education should put emphasis on cultivating the children's positive attitudes, interest for learning, and good living habits. Quite a number of respondents suggested that AAT should be replaced by a curriculum-related test on English, Chinese and Mathematics. Some respondents are concerned that without public assessment, students will lack motivation to study hard.
Some schools also worry about the difficulty in handling students with a greater mix of abilities.
Some parents are concerned that if high academic achievers have to learn together with low achievers, the levels of the former will drop. However, this in fact hinges on whether the teachers can handle students with different abilities. Therefore, in the third stage of the review, the EC will work with other relevant advisory and executive bodies to consider what complementary measures have to be put in place to provide the most appropriate support for the schools and teachers. They feel that some of the elements in the present point system are unfair. Besides, with the implementation of the 'through-road' concept, there is an even more pressing need for reforming the system in order to reduce the pressure on parents and students.