Principles of Reform

• Autonomy: Allowing schools and teachers to be innovative in their approach to meeting the needs of individual students and parents, within a framework of international curriculum standards.
• Accountability: Implementing an objective and transparent assessment system to hold all school leaders, teachers and parents responsible for the success of students.
• Variety: Encouraging different kinds of schools and instructional programs.
• Choice: Allowing parents to select the school that best fits their children's needs.

Within this framework, the State decided on a two-pronged approach to reform: (1) the establishment of government-funded Independent Schools over a multi-year period and (2) the implementation of annual assessments to measure student learning and school performance.