Some Secondary Four students are worried about their future studies if they fail or do not have satisfactory results in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) which is held for the last time in 2010.

Timothy Wong Sze-hang, a Form Four student at Tin Ka Ping Secondary School said that he was unclear about what possible options he could have for further studies if he fails at his first attempt at the HKCEE in 2010 and does not get a place in Form Six and Seven which leads to university.

Under the existing education system, students can repeat their studies in Form Five and re-sit the examination.

However, with the implementation of the New Senior Secondary curriculum (NSS) next school year, secondary schools will consider a special arrangement for Form Five repeaters when schools adopt the NSS curriculum which will prepare students to sit for the new public examination, the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.

Edmond Wai Ho-man, another Form Four student at Tin Ka Ping Secondary School, said he had not been told if Form Five repeaters would have to study the NSS curriculum.

Wai said that if he failed in the HKCEE next school year, he would like to repeat Form Five using the old curriculum, if possible. "After all, I am more familiar with it,"he added.

Yuen Pong Yiu, Principal of Tin Ka Ping Secondary School, denied that the school has failed to inform students of the changes.

The school held seminars for parents and students who are "on the last bus"of the HKCEE since some parents expressed concerns over the changes two years ago.

"Although the message had been sent out, students may not remember all the details,"Mr Yuen explained.

The school will hold a career talk in the coming months to explain the changes to the education system once again, Mr Yuen said. "But, I have no idea if other schools will do the same,"Mr Yuen.

Ms Leung Ka-ling, whose daughter studies at the Hong Kong Management Association David Li Kwok Po College, would like to have more information about how her daughter can plan for her studies.

She said she does not even know if there is a makeup HKCEE in the future. "We will only know what to do when the time comes,"she said.

The Education and Manpower Bureau has held seminars for parents with children affected by the change in curriculum on a district basis, according to Kathy Cheung Kan Suk-che, Senior Education Official (NSS) of the bureau.

But she added that it is impossible to ensure all the parents would attend these seminars. Therefore, the rest will have to rely on the schools for information.

The bureau sent a New Senior Secondary Information Kit to every secondary school a few months ago to explain the transition from the old to the new curriculum to students and parents.

Leaflets like 334 New Academic Structure - Useful Tips for Parents will continue to be distributed. A revised version of the leaflet for HKCEE candidates will be distributed by November this year.

"All schools will send these messages to their students'sooner or later',"said Mrs Cheung. "It is actually similar to (the situation of) a student with a lot of learning resources, (the problem is whether) they know how to utilize them."

Mrs Cheung said that the Education and Manpower Bureau have a series of policies that will help preparing secondary schools for the NSS system. These will include providing grants for schools to employ more teaching staff for the new curriculum and the Form Five repeaters sitting in the HKCEE on the existing curriculum.

Despite the government's work on familiarizing NSS curriculum with students and parents, Mr Yuen said that information dedicated for the last batch of HKCEE candidates is limited.

"You might not get the answer after you read all the documents, as most of them did not mention further arrangements (for the last batch of HKCEE candidates),"he said.

Varsity reporter has also visited the Education and Manpower Bureau's official website and found that there is a "334"web bulletin but for the last HKCEE, information comprises only a small part in "Frequent Asked Questions on NSS Academic Structure and Curriculum".

When asked about the effectiveness of government information concerning changes to the curriculum, Mr Yuen said that the school could not ensure that students will actually read them or pass them onto their parents. "They may be already in the rubbish bin before they reach the hands of parents,"he said.

He also criticized the government's seminars for parents as they did not target issues relating to the last HKCEE candidates. "It was only during the Q & A session, when parents brought up the point that'my son is studying form four now…', they (the officers) would then replied them accordingly,"said Mr Yuen.

Meanwhile, Janessa Kam Pui-lam, a student at the Hong Kong Management Association David Li Kwok Po College, was more concerned about the adequacy of university resources in catering two batches of students who have studied under different curricula at the same time.

Although there will be additional places in universities for secondary graduates in 2013, Janessa was worried that there may not have enough teaching staff to conduct lectures.

"It is really unfair,"she said, "and our situation is even worse than the first batch of students from the NSS curriculum because at least they don't need to worry about the HKCEE.”

Troubled by similar questions, Pang Fung Ki, mother of another student at the Hong Kong Management Association David Li Kwok Po College said: "If my daughter gets less than 20 (points) in HKCEE, I will think that even though she can get into Form Six, she may still not be able to get into a university."

Ms Pang added that she did not believe that the government can double the number of admission places to universities in such a short time.

With so many uncertainties ahead, Ms Pang is considering sending her daughter overseas for her studies. "At least she can widen her horizons and have an educational environment with less pressure,"she said.