“But 13 per cent is certainly far from being ideal. I think principals, teachers and the Education Bureau would like more [students to take the subject].”
“但 13%显然远未达到理想水平。我认为校长、教师和教育局都希望有更多学生选择这门科目。”

Ho, a former school principal, argued that whether the amendment would “optimise” Chinese history depended on how principals and teachers perceived the importance of the subject, as well as societal expectations about it, which was equally crucial.
何先生，前校长，认为修订是否能“优化”中国历史，取决于校长和教师如何看待这门科目的重要性，以及社会对它的期望，这同样至关重要。

Ho said the key to preventing students from stereotyping Chinese history as “boring but difficult to get good marks in” lay with principals, frontline teachers and the bureau, which is in charge of allocating resources.
何先生表示，防止学生将中国历史刻板印象为“无聊但难以取得好成绩”的关键在于校长、一线教师和负责资源分配的教育局。

“I think the three groups should not follow the old way, not act lazy and not turn a blind eye to problems existing,” Ho said, without giving examples.
“我认为这三方不应沿用旧方法，不应懒惰，也不应对存在的问题视而不见，”何先生说，但未举例说明。

Under the change, pupils will be given the choice of sitting one DSE paper instead of the current two.
根据这一变化，学生将可以选择只参加一张 DSE 试卷，而不是目前的两张。

Paper 1 accounts for 70 per cent of their grade, while Paper 2 takes up the remainder. If students take only the first one, their maximum grade will be 5 instead of the full 5**.
试卷一占他们成绩的 70%，而试卷二占剩余部分。如果学生只参加第一张试卷，他们的最高成绩将是 5，而不是满分 5**。

However, lawmaker Tang Fei, a former secondary school principal, said the low percentage of students taking Chinese history did not necessarily mean a lack of interest in the subject.
然而，前中学校长、立法会议员唐飞表示，选择学习中国历史的学生比例低，并不一定意味着对该科目缺乏兴趣。

“Most students start from practical considerations as this is about college entrance exams, and many university disciplines do not require Chinese history,” he said.
“大多数学生从实际考虑出发，因为这关系到大学入学考试，且许多大学专业并不要求学习中国历史，”他说。

Tang said he had observed that interest among students in Chinese history had been on the rise as more events and exchange programmes had been held in recent years.
唐表示，他观察到随着近年来举办的更多活动和交流项目，学生对中国历史的兴趣有所上升。

Tang said he expected “a little increase” might be seen in the percentage under the amendment but the real change would lie on whether there was change to the composition to the subjects required to take under the DSE.
唐表示，他预计在修订后相关比例可能会“略有增加”，但真正的变化在于是否会改变中学文凭考试（DSE）所需选修科目的组成。

Most local universities have a minimum requirement of studying four core subjects - Chinese language, English language, mathematics and citizenship and social development - with two to three electives.
大多数本地大学要求至少学习四门核心科目——中文、英文、数学和公民与社会发展——以及两到三门选修课。

“If more university majors ask for three elective subjects, I think more will take Chinese history, especially with that amendment,” Tang said.
“如果更多大学专业要求三门选修科目，我认为会有更多人选择中国历史，尤其是在那项修订之后，”唐说。