課本是教育系統中的重要環節，也是重要的教學內容、系統知識的組織、課程與教學間的連結。然而，香港對課本的探討仍然不足，課本的品質亦有待提升。本文嘗試評析教育局在香港課本編審機制中的作用。全文主要分為兩部分，首先會探討教育局在課本編審機制中的作用，然後提出加強教育局作用的建議。本文作者認為，教育局在課本編選機制中扮演非常重要的角色；然而，除維持現有角色外，教育局也應與其他相關的組織配合以及統籌與課本有關事宜，進行更多的課本研究，以及研究優化編審課本的機制。Textbooks, crucial in educational systems, consist of essential teaching materials and represent the organization of systematic knowledge and the bringing together of curriculum and teaching. Hong Kong, however, needs to carry out more research of textbook and to improve the quality of textbooks. This article discusses the roles of the Education Bureau in textbook editing and selection mechanism and suggests ways to enhance those roles. The authors confirm that the Education Bureau plays crucial roles in the textbook mechanism. We suggest, however, that in addition to its present roles, the Education Bureau should cooperate with other relevant organizations to coordinate textbook affairs, conduct more textbook research, and strive to improve the textbook mechanism. Copyright © 2010 國家教育研究院.

教科書是教育的重要環節，聯繫教學內容、系統知識、課程與教學、學習評估。香港教科書編審和選用的機制，雖然一直引發大量爭議，但探討其機制的文章不多。本文將評析教育局在教科書編審機制的特質。教育局在編審過程中，對特定項目加以控制，如編寫內容、編寫取向、價格因素等；然而，對部分項目則容許自由編寫，如附加內容、教學活動、撰寫篇幅等。出版商為爭取通過評審，獲得更大市場份額，需要滿足教育局的要求和學校教師的口味。在選用過程中，學校需要建立選用教科書的方法，經教師商議選用，但教育局未擬定教師選用準則的嚴格標準，教師選擇具有彈性。筆者認為，香港教科書編審和選用的機制中，教育局的取態經常徘徊於控制與自由之間。Textbook, linking teaching content, system knowledge, curriculum and teaching, and assessment for learning, is an important part of education. Although the mechanism for reviewing and selecting textbooks in Hong Kong has always caused a lot of controversy, there are not many articles inquiring into the mechanism. This article analyzes the features of the textbook review mechanism of the Education Bureau. During the review processes, the Education Bureau, on the one hand, controls specific issues such as contents, teaching approaches, and pricing matters. It, however, allows freedom in other issues such as supplementary contents, teaching activities, length of writings. Textbook publishers, aiming to gain greater market share, need to meet the requirements of the Education Bureau and the desires of school teachers. In the selection process, schools need to set the procedure of textbook selection and allow teachers to select textbook. The Education Bureau, however, has not issued rigid standards for the selection and allows flexibility for teachers’ choice. The author believes that the Education Bureau often hovers between control and freedom.in the textbook review and selection mechanism. Copyright © 2019 香港中文大學.