Hong Kong’s education policies were in the spotlight recently after a United Nations committee asked the government to prove that they have not be causing “social marginalisation and segregation” of ethnic minority students.
A member from the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination asked how the government planned to “accelerate the teaching” of Chinese in Hong Kong, so that non-Chinese speaking students who struggle with the language can integrate into the system.
Hong Kong officials who attended the meeting with the UN committee did not fully respond to the question but referred to the government’s written reply.
They stated that they have instituted a new Chinese teaching framework four years ago and given between USD102,000 and USD191,000 per year to schools to support its teaching. The exact amount depends on the number of non-Chinese speaking students in the school.
The Hong Kong government also said the claim of racial segregation was “groundless and unfair”. They cited that two-thirds of the city’s public schools have pupils who are non-native speakers but did not provide further details.
The UN committee member, Verene Shepherd, was unconvinced, stating that articulating and writing policies is “one thing” but monitoring the impact “is another”.
“Limited guidance has been provided to school on pedagogical principles, and teachers are not required to train professionally before teaching Chinese as a second language – so the framework [on Chinese learning] lacks accountability to parents,” she said.
The South China Morning Post reported that non-governmental organisations working with ethnic minorities in the city complained that schools are not equipped to teach Chinese as a second language.
Most teachers also create lessons and exam papers based on the curriculum for mainstream and Chinese-speaking students.