Part of DSE Chinese history exam optional from 2026

Education minister Christine Choi on Friday said students taking Chinese History in the DSE exams will be allowed to skip part of the test from 2026. Under the new arrangement, pupils can choose to take only a compulsory test that covers Chinese historical events ranging from the ancient Xia dynasty onwards, or they can also sit a paper that focuses on the political, religious, social and other aspects of different periods. Students only sitting the compulsory paper will be able to get a grade 5 at most, while those who sit the two papers can get up to 5**. The Education Bureau said students will not need to disclose to the exam authority if they are skipping a test, so they will not be labelled. It said it has not consulted the sector extensively on the move because the syllabus and assessment method are not being changed. Choi said they want to give students more choice. "We hope to allow more students who are interested to take Chinese history, or let students study the subject according to their ability," she told reporters. "Of course teachers will need to think about how to allocate lesson time and take care of students of different ability levels. I believe this won't be difficult as we implement the change and teachers become experienced." Teachers will need to have a teaching plan ready when the new academic year starts in September for form five students who plan to only take the mandatory test. Ho Hon-kuen who heads Education Convergence, a body consisting of teachers and principals, said it will not be hard to cater to two groups of students. "Some of the students can study in the library while others spend more time in the classroom. Or, if the teachers and principals are more dedicated, they can break the students into two groups and teach them separately," he told RTHK. But Lee Wai-hung, a senior Chinese history teacher at Fukien Secondary School (Siu Sai Wan), said it may be difficult to split students into two groups when there are not many taking the subject.