Education in Hong Kong

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Education in Hong
Kong

Education
Bureau
HK
Exam Assessment Authority

Pre-school
Education
Primary
Education
HKAAT

Secondary
Education
HKHLE

HKCEE

HKALE
(A-Level)
334 Scheme

HKDSE

JUPAS(EAS
Subsystem)
Higher
Education

English
Schools Foundation
University
Grants Committee
Grant Schools
Council
Direct Subsidy
Scheme

Other Hong Kong topics

Culture -
Economy
Geography
- History -
Politics
Hong Kong
Portal

Education in Hong Kong has a similar system to that of the
United Kingdom, in particular the English education
system of Hong Kong was modernised by
the British in 1861. The
system can be described as extremely competitive by global standards.

Contents

1 History

2 Format

2.1 British system before
1960

2.2 British system after
1960

2.3 British system after
1971

2.4 Current 2007
format

3 School systems

3.1 Culture

3.2 Point
system

3.3 Capacity

3.4 Qualifications:
professional development for teachers

3.5 Qualifications:
professional development for principals

4 School
types

5 Early education

5.1 Pre-school / nursery /
kindergarten education

5.2 Primary
education

5.3 Secondary
education

5.4 International
education

6 Higher education

6.1 Tertiary
education

6.2 Vocational and
post-secondary education

7 Non-mainstream
education

7.1 Adult
education

7.2 Education for
newly-arrived-children (NAC)

8 Standings

9 Criticism

10 Future

11 See also

12 References

[edit]
History

Prior to 1841, the territory we know today as Hong Kong was part of the Qing Empire.
Historian Anthony Sweeting believes, as early as Han Dynasty, some forms of
education provision existed, varied from the traditional village schools (which
taught basic reading and writing), vocationally oriented monastery schools, to
study halls and colleges designed to prepare students for the Civil service
examination.[1]

Small village Chinese schools were observed by the British missionaries when
they arrived circa 1843.[2]
Anthony Sweeting believes those small village schools existed in Chek Chu, Shek Pai
Wan, Heung Kong Tsai and Wong Nai Chong on Hong Kong Island,
although proof is no longer available.[1]

One of the earliest schools with reliable records was Li
Ying College established in 1075 in present day New Territories.[3]
By 1860 Hong Kong had 20 village schools. Chinese who were wealthy did not
educate their children in Hong Kong, instead they sent them back to the mainland
for traditional Chinese education.[3]
The changes came with the arrival of the British in 1841.

At first Hong Kong's education came from Protestant
and Catholic
missionaries who provided
social services. Italian missionaries began to provide boy-only education
to British and Chinese youth in 1843.[4]
By 1861 Frederick
Stewart would become "The Founder of Hong Kong Education" for integrating a
modern western-style education model into the Colonial Hong Kong
school system.[5]
One of the much contested debate was whether schools should offer Vernacular
education, teaching in Chinese at all.[1]
Education was considered a luxury for the elite and the rich. The first school
to open the floodgate of western medical practice to the Far East was the Hong
Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in 1887.[6]
The push for Chinese education in a British
system did not begin until the rise of social awareness of the May Fourth Movement in
1919 and New Life Movement in
1934.[3][1]
Educating the poor did not become a priority until they accounted for the
majority of the population.

Finance issues were addressed in the 1970s.[7]
A small group of protesters of South Asian origin marched
through central Hong Kong demanding more schooling in the English language on 3
June 2007.[8]

[edit]
Format

Following the introduction of the comprehensive school
system in the 1960s in the UK, children in Hong Kong transformed from the
old education system to the new.[7][9]
Education listed as compulsory below are generally required by law.

[edit]
British system before
1960

Length

Education type

Type

4 years

First school

4 years

Secondary-middle school

3 + 2 years

Secondary-high school

[edit]
British system after
1960

Length

Education type

Type

6 years

Primary school

5 + 2 years

Secondary school

[edit]
British system after
1971

Length

Education type

Type

6 years

Primary education

compulsory government funded as of 1971

3 years

Secondary education

compulsory government funded as of 1978

2 + 2 years

Secondary school

selective

[edit]
Current 2007 format

Length

Education type

Additional names

Type

Focus

School year

3 years

Kindergarten

voluntary

General

Sept - June

6 years

Primary education

Primary 1, Primary 2, Primary 3, Primary 4, Primary 5, Primary 6

compulsory

General

Sept - July

3 years

Secondary education

Form 1, Form 2, Form 3

compulsory

General

Sept - July

2 years

Senior Secondary
(leads to HKCEE)

Form 4, Form 5

selective

Specialised

Sept - July (Form 4),Sept - April (Form 5)

2 years

Matriculation
Course
(leads to HKALE)

Form 6 (Lower Six)
Form 7 (Upper Six)

selective, performance based

Specialised

Sept - July (Form 6), Sept - February/March (Form 7)

Depends on subject

Tertiary
education
(leads to bachelors, masters and
other academic
degrees)

selective

Specialised

Varies

[edit]
School systems

A co-ed secondary school
playground

[edit]
Culture

The mainstream education system in Hong Kong has often been described as
"spoon-fed" (Chinese: 填鴨式教育). Cram schools in
Hong Kong have also become a popular standard in parallel to regular
education. A heavy emphasis is placed on the Ranking systems at an
early age. Competition among students is fierce, since job and advanced-school
placements are rigorously filtered by rank results.

Practically all school students in Hong Kong wear uniforms. Common
restrictions include strict dress codes, behaviours, and what items one can
carry to school.

[edit]
Point system

Schools in Hong Kong typically have strict codes of discipline. An
overwhelming majority of schools employ "Demerit Points System" (Chinese: 記缺點制度)
as a formal record of student offences in disciplinary
areas. These statistics will appear on a student's report card, and sometimes
testimonials on whether he or she can graduate. A typical example of a current
institution using a demerit point system is at Shatin Tsung
Tsin Secondary School. Most schools will record demerit points (Chinese:
記缺點) at the most basic violation. Three typical point deduction accrue from a
minor offence (Chinese: 記小過), while three minor offences mount up to one major
offence (Chinese: 記大過). Once a student has accrued three or more major offences,
he or she is automatically suspended (or expelled if over compulsory education
age) from school. The point system has been known to carry substantial weight,
which ultimately affects one's report card performance, and controversially
jeopardising future career prospects.[10]

[edit]
Capacity

Many primary schools in Hong Kong offer half-day schooling, splitting by AM
and PM to handle the demand. The two sessions are usually treated as separate
school entities with two different headmasters and different
sets of staff. To make up for the time of shortened half days, students are
sometimes required to attend alternate Saturdays. Most primary schools are
gradually moving to full school day systems as government policy aims to phase
out half-day schooling over time as resource permits.

Due to the drop in birth rate in recent years,
many primary schools were forced to cut classes, cut teachers and even close
down. There have been debates that one should seize the opportunity to promote
small class teaching. Doing so could mitigate the pressure of teachers, class
and school reductions, on top of improving ratio of students to teachers.

[edit]
Qualifications: professional development for
teachers

The Hong Kong
Institute of Education (HKIEd), under the aegis of the University
Grants Committee (UGC), aims to upgrade the quality of teaching
professionals. It offers a range of degree and postgraduate programmes as well
as some sub-degree teacher education programmes targeted at pre-primary, primary
and secondary levels. The Chinese
University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and The University of Hong
Kong (HKU) offer full-time and part-time degree and postgraduate programmes
for in-service and pre-service teachers. The Hong Kong
Baptist University (HKBU) also offers both undergraduate and postgraduate
teacher education programmes on a full-time or part-time basis. The Open University
of Hong Kong (OUHK) offers two in-service Bachelor of Education (Honours)
degree programmes and two in-service Postgraduate Diploma in Education
programmes for primary and secondary school teachers.

[edit]
Qualifications: professional development for
principals

Starting in 2002/03, all serving principals have to undertake continuing
professional development activities for about 50 hours per year, adding up to a
minimum of 150 hours in a 3-year cycle. Newly appointed principals in their
first two years are required to undertake specific continuing professional
development activities. Starting from the 2004/05 school year, aspiring
principals will have to attain the "Certification for Principalship".

[edit]
School types

Type

Category

Description

Government schools

Comprehensive

Subsidised schools

Comprehensive

Most common, run by charitable and religious (Christian, Buddhist,
Taoist, TWGHs and others)
organisations with government funding.

Direct Subsidy
Scheme (DSS) schools

Private

Run by various non-government organisations. HKSAR Government has
encouraged non-government primary and secondary schools which have
attained a sufficiently high educational standard to join the DSS by
providing subsidies in order to enhance the quality of private school
education since 1991/92 school year. Under the scheme, schools are free to
decide on their curriculum, fees and entrance requirements.

Private schools

Private

Run by various private organisations. Admissions are based more on
academic merit than on financial ability.

Private international schools

Private

Provide an alternative to the high-pressured mainstream education, in
exchange for much higher tuition fees.

English
Schools Foundation

Subsidised

Provide an alternative to the high-pressured mainstream education.
However the tuition fees are lower than many other international schools
as many ESF schools enjoy subvention by the Hong Kong
Government.

[edit]
Early education

King's
College, one of the oldest secondary school in Hong Kong.

[edit]
Pre-school / nursery / kindergarten education

This section requires expansion.

Before Christmas season in 2006, the finance committee of the Legislative
Council approved the controversial HK$2 billion pre-school scheme to subsidise
early childhood education. Under the subsidy plan, parents whose children study
in non-profit-making kindergarten get an education voucher of
HK$13,000 per student per year from the 2007-2008 school year, provided the
annual school fees do not exceed HK$24,000 for half-day kindergartens or
HK$48,000 for whole-day kindergartens. A schedule of voucher value is set out as
below: 2007/08 $13,000 ; 2008/09 $14,000 ; 2009/10 $14,000 ;
2010/11 $16,000 ; 2011/12 $16,000 .

[edit]
Primary education

This section requires expansion.

Primary education in Hong Kong covers a wide curriculum. Core subjects
include Chinese, English, Mathematics ,and General Studies with
broad emphasis on Music, Physical Education
and Arts. In some schools Science is taught
as well. Formerly there were 3 knowledge-oriented subjects: Social Studies,
Health Education, and Science. In the 1996–1997 academic year the Education
Department amalgamated these subjects into the new subject of General Studies [2]. Depending on the religious background of the school, Religious Education
or Bible Studies
could be incorporated. The teaching medium in most of the local primary schools
is Chinese with English as a second language. After the transfer
of the sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, only a handful of primary schools and secondary
schools are able to keep English as the medium of
instruction under new government policies. Those schools are generally
referred to as English
as Medium of Instruction schools (EMI).

[edit]
Secondary education

This section requires expansion.

Secondary education in Hong Kong is largely based on the English schooling system, with
10% being single-sex
education institutions. In Form 4, most students of grammar schools are
required to choose between streams, namely "Science", "Arts" and "Commerce",
depending on the school policy. The end of Form 5 leads to the Hong
Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE). The exam is equivalent to
the UK's GCSEs or O-levels
exams.

Students obtaining a satisfactory grade in the HKCEE
will be promoted to Form 6. The Hong
Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) then acts as the de facto university
entrance examination akin to the UK's GCE A-levels. At
this level streaming is even more rigidly specialized dividing into
Mathematics/Engineering stream, Biology/Medical stream or Arts stream for
example.

Prerequisites for university admissions include Grade "E" or better in the
HKALE Chinese
Language and Culture and Use of English subjects
and 2 other A-level equivalent subjects. The Joint
University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) determines admission to tertiary institutions
largely based on HKALE and HKCEE results. However, students achieving more than
6 'A's in their HKCEEs are eligible to apply for early admissions through the Early
Admissions Scheme (EAS) including The
Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), The University
of Hong Kong (HKU) and The
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

[edit]
International
education

International institutions provide both primary and secondary education in
Hong Kong. International institutions like school's within the English Schools
Foundation, Li Po Chun
United World College, Hong Kong
International School, German
Swiss International School, Canadian
International School, French
International School and Chinese
International School teach with English as the primary language, with some
sections bilingual in German, French and Chinese. International
school students rarely take Hong Kong public exams. British students take GCSE,
IGCSE and A-levels. US
students take APs. Increasingly,
international schools follow the International
Baccalaureate (IBDP) program, and enter universities through non-JUPAS
direct entry. International students apply on a per school basis, whereas Hong
Kong local students submit 1 application for multiple local universities as a
JUPAS applicant.

[edit]
Higher education

HK
Institute of Vocational Education

Main article: Higher
education in Hong Kong

[edit]
Tertiary education

With 8 universities and several other tertiary institutions in just one city,
tertiary education plays a key role in the education system. Of the 36,660
students who attended the HKALE in 2003, 18,049 (49.2%) of them fulfilled their
general entry requirement to their respective university, usually a pass in
Chinese Language and Culture and Use of English, plus
another two A-level subjects (or one A-level subject and two AS-level subjects).
Students who sit for the HKALE first time have a success rate of 75.8%. There
are 19 different Advanced Level and 20
different AS-level subjects available.[11]
The cost of undergraduate, full-degree, full-time programmes tend to be around
HK$40,000 - 50,000 a year, with the cost being higher for engineering and
medical students. The reason for this relatively low cost is due to heavy
government subsidisation. Being an international city, Hong Kong's tertiary
institutions attract many foreign exchange
students from US, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Singapore to name a few.

The following is a table comparing HK tertiary students enrollment in various
countries. It also provides a ratio comparison to the number that enrolled in
local Hong Kong universities.[4]

Country

1975

1984

1986

1988

1990

1992

1994

1998

2000

Australia

572

1,658

1,687

1,889

3,864

6,707

11,932

17,135

20,739

Canada

6,644

7,723

6,730

5,840

6,372

6,600

6,589

5,000

5,000

Taiwan

2,626

3,816

3,854

3,850

3,633

3,450

2,663

1,487

1,171

UK

4,434

6,500

6,935

7,300

7,700

7,600

7,400

5,450

5,200

USA

11,930

9,000

9,720

9,160

12,630

14,018

12,940

8,730

7,545

Local

11,575

21,538

25,995

29,591

34,556

42,721

52,494

59,528

59,408

[edit]
Vocational
and post-secondary education

Commerce stream in secondary schools are considered vocational in
nature. Students in the Commerce stream would usually enter the workplace to
gain practical work experience by this point. Further education pursuit in Hong
Kong Institute of Vocational Education or universities abroad are common. The Manpower
Development Committee (MDC) advices the government on coordination,
regulation and promotion of the sector. In addition, the Vocational
Training Council (VTC) ensures the level of standard is met through the
"Apprentice Ordinance". The VTC also operate three skills-centres for
people with disabilities.

[edit]
Non-mainstream
education

[edit]
Adult education

Adult education is popular, since it gives middle-aged adults a chance
to obtain a tertiary degree. The concept was not common several decades ago. The
EMB has
commissioned two non-profit school operators to provide evening courses. Both
operators have set up fee remission schemes to help the adult learners in need
of financial assistance. Adult education courses also provide Vocational
Training Council through various universities and private institutions. The Open University
of Hong Kong is one establishment for mature students.

[edit]
Education for newly-arrived-children (NAC)

The EMB provides education services for newly arrived children, which
includes children from the Mainland, non-Chinese
speaking children and returnees. Free
"Induction Programmes" of up to 60 hours have been offered to NAC by
non-government organisations. The EMB also provides a 6 month full-time
"Initiation Programme" incorporating both academic and non-academic support
services, for NAC before they are formally placed into mainstream schools.
Hei-Hang Hayes Tang (2002) provided a good sociology of education thesis on the
NACs' adaptation and school performance

[edit]
Standings

In the OECD's international assessment of
student
performance, Hong Kong has been ranked one of the highest scorers in 2003
and 2006.
In 2003, 15-year-olds from Hong Kong came first in mathematics, and third in
science, worldwide.

[edit]
Criticism

With the advent of education reform there is a greater emphasis on group
projects, open-ended assignments on top of traditional homework. The current
workload of a primary student in Hong Kong includes approximately three to four
hours of schoolwork nightly. Along with extracurricular
activities, Hong Kong's education has become synonymous for leaning towards
quantity. As early as March 1987, education advisory inspectors became concerned
with the excessive amounts of "mechanical work and meaningless homework".[12]
In particular, history education has been recognised as ineffective, with
critics claiming that the curriculum is not capable of delivering a sense of
identity. Not only that, students have to memorise the whole history textbook,
proving memorising is more important than understanding.[12]

Some have criticised the system for having too narrow of a stream focus, too
early on. Alan Leong of the Hong Kong
Legislative Council pointed out in a guest lecture to CUHK students that
science stream education at secondary level, are incapable of participating in
meaningful discussions on history, arts, or literature. Vice versa journalists
of Arts stream background are incapable of accurately discussing technological
issues. The narrow focus has been a concern.

A pervasive perception from observers in overseas education institutions
generally note that a typical Hong Kong student compared with other students,
even against other students in the Asia region, systematically lacks decision
making confidence and relies on repetition and sample answers. This deviates
from the common benchmark of intellect where value propositions are generated
from innovation and distinctive solutions, and this has led to much schism in
the debate of educational direction of Hong Kong, where the populace makes no
such aspiration for intellect but seek constant reaffirmation of value through
myriad certificates throughout their working lives. The desperation in seeking a
standing in life through education is further highlighted by severe ironies such
as:

1) Senior education officials often pronounce the excellence of Hong Kong
education, yet few if any will let their children matriculate locally,
preferring overseas universities instead.

2)A certificate driven society that takes pride in its academic excellence is
unable to devise a suitable benchmark of excellence itself, with a low public
approval of the local educational system, and continues to rely on certification
from outside Hong Kong.

[edit]
Future

As of March 2007, a new Senior Secondary School curriculum was promulgated.
Secondary education will move away from the English model of five years
secondary schooling plus two years of university matriculation to the Chinese
model of three years of junior secondary plus another three years of senior
secondary according to the 334 Scheme (three years for
junior secondary, three years for senior secondary and four years for
university) with the Form 1 intake in the 2006-07 academic year the first crop
to graduate under the new system. Streaming of classes according to subjects
offered will be abolished, and the two public exams HKCEE and HKALE will be
merged into one public exam, called the Hong
Kong Diploma in Secondary Education, sat at the end of the Senior Secondary
3 (Form 6 under the existing system), and expanding school based assessment.
University education will extend from three years to four.[13]

[edit]
See also

Hong Kong
portal

Education in UK

Education by
country

List
of Joint School Society in Hong Kong

List of
schools in Hong Kong

Hong
Kong Diploma in Secondary Education

Direct Subsidy
Scheme

A Passage A Day

334
Scheme

List
of Canada-accredited schools abroad (includes schools in Hong
Kong)

[edit]
References

^ a
b
c
d
Sweeting, Anthony. [1990] (1990). Education in Hong Kong, pre-1841 to 1941.
p.87, Hong Kong University Press. ISBN
962-209-258-6

^
The Chinese Repository, Article III 'Religious and Charitable Institutions in
Hongkong:Churches, Chapels, Schools, Colleges, Hospital, etc' August, 1843
issue, p.440

^ a
b
c
Bryn Mawr College. "Brynmawr
Eastasian pdf." "brynmawr.edu." Retrieved on 2007-03-15.

^ a
b
Bray, Mark. Koo, Ramsey. [2005] (2005) Education and Society in Hong Kong and
Macao: Comparative Perspectives on Continuity and Change. Hong Kong: Springer
Press. ISBN
1-4020-3405-9

^
Wiltshire, Trea. [First published 1987] (republished & reduced 2003). Old
Hong Kong - Volume One. Central, Hong Kong: Text Form Asia books Ltd. Page 8.
ISBN Volume One 962-7283-59-2

^
Sir James Cantlie started the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese in
1887 (although, the ‘for Chinese’ was later dropped from the name). Ingrams,
Harold, Hong Kong (Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, London: 1952),
p.213.

^ a
b
Eh Net. "Eh
Net." Hong Kong History. Retrieved on 2007-02-21.

^
Hk Marchers. "[1]." HK marchers demand more English Retrieved on
2007-06-03.

^
Chan, Shun-hing. Leung, Beatrice. [2003] (2003). Changing Church and State
Relations in Hong Kong, 1950-2000. Hong Kong: HK university press. Page 24. ISBN
962-209-612-3

^
HKitalk.com. "HKitalk.com." "School conversations used as live reference."
Retrieved on 2006.

^
Statistics sourced from the Hong
Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority

^ a
b
Vickers, Edward. [2003] (2003). In Search of an Identity: The Politics of
History Teaching in Hong Kong, 1960s-2000. United Kingdom: Routledge. ISBN
0-415-94502-X

^
Siu, Beatrice (21 January 2010). "Diploma likely to pass British university test". The
Standard. http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=93454&sid=26772252&con_type=1. Retrieved 17 August 2010.

v • d • e

Education in Asia

Sovereign
states

Afghanistan ·
Armenia1 ·
Azerbaijan1 ·
Bahrain ·
Bangladesh ·
Bhutan ·
Brunei ·
Burma2 ·
Cambodia ·
People's
Republic of China · Cyprus1 ·
East
Timor3 · Egypt4 ·
Georgia4 ·
India ·
Indonesia ·
Iran ·
Iraq ·
Israel ·
Japan ·
Jordan ·
Kazakhstan4 ·
North
Korea · South
Korea · Kuwait ·
Kyrgyzstan ·
Laos ·
Lebanon ·
Malaysia ·
Maldives ·
Mongolia ·
Nepal ·
Oman ·
Pakistan ·
Philippines ·
Qatar ·
Russia4 ·
Saudi
Arabia · Singapore ·
Sri
Lanka · Syria ·
Tajikistan ·
Thailand ·
Turkey4 ·
Turkmenistan ·
United
Arab Emirates · Uzbekistan ·
Vietnam ·
Yemen

States
with limited
recognition

Abkhazia1 ·
Nagorno-Karabakh ·
Northern
Cyprus · Palestine ·
Republic
of China5 · South
Ossetia1

Dependencies,
autonomies,
other
territories

Aceh ·
Adjara1 ·
Akrotiri
and Dhekelia · Altai ·
British
Indian Ocean Territory · Buryatia ·
Christmas
Island · Cocos
(Keeling) Islands · Guangxi ·
Hong
Kong · Inner
Mongolia · Iraqi
Kurdistan · Khakassia ·
Macau ·
Nakhchivan ·
Ningxia ·
Papua ·
Sakha
Republic · Tibet ·
Tuva ·
West
Papua · Xinjiang

1 Sometimes
included in Europe, depending on
the border
definitions.  2
Officially known as Myanmar.
3 Sometimes
included in Oceania, and also
known as Timor-Leste.
4 Transcontinental
country.  5 Commonly
known as Taiwan.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Hong_Kong"

Categories: Education in
Hong Kong

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