400 of the island’s school leaders – who will soon gather for a brainstorming conference – claim the government is only focused on short-term problems and pumping money into the system.
The two-day event – titled: ‘Education Colloquium: Vision 2047’ – will be held Friday and Saturday and will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.
The event will feature speeches and discussion forums with a range of big names in education, including former president of Lingnan University, Edward Chen Kwan-yiu, CEO of the Centre for Strategic Education in Melbourne, Anthony Mackay, and Purvee Chauhan, who works on improving education in India.
One of the topics being discussed will be why, six months on from the election of Hong Kong leader, Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor – who promised fresh thinking and innovation solutions – fundamental flaws remain in the education system.
Michael Wong Wai-yu, honorary executive secretary of the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools, said another area of concern is that while school funding levels are healthy, student satisfaction remains elusive.
“The government spends quite a bit on education and there are a lot of educators with the heart to teach, but why are people still not satisfied with the system?” he asked.
“Why are the youth unhappy?”
Lee Suet-ying, the association’s chairwoman and principal of Ho Yu College and Primary School, said it was important for Hong Kong to have a vision and policies to work towards that vision in the run-up to 2047, when Beijing’s 50-year promise expires to maintain the “one country, two systems” governing formula that guarantees Hong Kong’s autonomy.
However, Lee said that year should not be targeted for its political connotations but rather because it represented the future and a time when today’s students would have their own children.
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