Many principals have serious doubts about how enjoyable the new senior secondary curriculum is for pupils, a survey shows.

A group of 176 secondary school principals were asked to rate statements from the government's review published in April. More than 60 per cent disagreed that subjects in the curriculum had brought their pupils "enjoyable learning experiences".

The survey - conducted by the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools - took 23 statements from the government's report and asked principals to rate them from 1 to 5. The statements reflect the Education Bureau's opinions on the new curriculum's achievements, the reviewing system and medium to long-term measures to improve the curriculum.

Principals gave the lowest score, 2.25, to the statement claiming that most pupils found subjects in the new curriculum interesting and enjoyable to learn, citing reasons such as too much school-based assessment and study pressures.