$1B to Widen School Choice

Secondary schools will be allowed to choose the medium of instruction for various subjects from September next year, according to a HK$1 billion plan unveiled by the government yesterday.

However, schools choosing to use English must ensure that 85 percent of students in a class are among the top 40 percent of students in Hong Kong.

Schools unable to meet this criteria or which wish to retain Chinese as the language of instruction can boost the use of English to at least 25 percent of the total lesson time.

The government hopes the proposal will end the labelling of schools and give parents a wider choice when it comes to selecting secondary schools for their children.

According to the proposal, the government will set aside HK$640 million to brush up the English-language skills of teachers.

It will also provide relief teachers for those undergoing training and commission studies to develop effective teaching resources.

In addition, a total of HK$310 million will be used to boost the quality of English instruction in primary schools.

It is estimated that 80 Chinese- medium schools will be afforded more flexibility, given the performance of their students over the past two years.

A further 114 English-medium schools will qualify for full flexibility.

Scholarships of up to HK$50,000 will be offered each year to qualified school graduates who endeavour to become English teachers.

The plan aims at increasing the general English proficiency among the student population as well as eliminating the negative bias associated with schools currently labelled as Chinese-medium.

English Medium Schools Association chairwoman Rosalind Chan Lo-sai welcomed the framework, saying it will help enhance the standard of English even in Chinese-medium schools.

Association of Heads of Secondary Schools chairman Michael Wong Wai-yu was more reserved in his observation, saying "fine-tuning" the teaching language framework will not eliminate the labelling effect.

"Of course it cannot be totally eliminated, but it [the framework] will reduce the bias somewhat," Wong said.

"I agree with its aim of improving the English skills of students, but I fear the government has taken the wrong approach."

Wong suggested those schools that teach entirely in English be called English medium, with the others referred to as bilingual schools.

Association of Hong Kong Chinese Middle Schools chairman Yip Chee-him hoped the new framework will not create a new labelling effect.

Grant Schools Council chairman and Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, chairman George Tam Siu-ping said the details of the proposal are to be discussed with the bureau before being submitted to the Executive Council in April.

Source:
The Standard 9 January 2009 (Friday)

Link:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=76781&sid=22172385&con_type=1&d_str=20090109&sear_year=2009