Call to Drop School Labelling

Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung yesterday sought help from parents to outlaw the labelling of schools.

Speaking to representatives from 20 different school and parent associations, Suen said by removing such labels as "English medium" or "Chinese medium," some of the choice-bias would disappear when it was time for parents to select schools for their children. Schools would also have autonomy in choosing which classes will be taught in each language.

A proposal to this effect is to be submitted to the Legislative Council. Chinese-medium schools have generally been viewed as inferior to their English-medium equivalents, resulting in some schools finding it hard to attract students.

Suen said it is the government's hope that a typical Hong Kong student will not only have the opportunity to gain Chinese-language skills at school, but also be able to excel in English.

"As Hong Kong is part of China and a cosmopolitan place, our young people not only need to develop good Chinese-language skills, but also English skills," Suen said.
The chairman of the committee on home-school cooperation Wong Po-choi said he wholeheartedly agreed with Suen, as did representatives of most organizations present at yesterday's meeting.

"We and the other school and parent associations support this measure. We believe it will provide more opportunities for students to learn English. This also creates a lot more flexibility for the schools," Wong said.

However, Wong expressed concern on behalf of parents over transparency after language labelling is removed.

In response, Suen said schools will reveal to the public the language in which each of their classes will be taught.

The move was first announced by a spokesman for the Education Bureau last month.
"We hope to allow schools more flexibility and room for development to make professional decisions on school-based medium of instruction arrangements to ensure smooth transition for students to senior and post-secondary education, which is normally conducted in English," he said.

Source:
The Standard 6 January 2009 (Tuesday)

Link:
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=76645&sid=22122362&con_type=1&d_str=20090106&sear_year=2009