Chapter 9 - The Hong Kong education system: Late immersion under stress

Summary

Introduction

Since 1960, the education system in Hong Kong has changed from one serving an elite of approximately 25% of the school-age population to one that provides universal education for 9 years. More than 90% of students continue for a further 2 years. The availability of tertiary places has risen over the same period from under 2% to over 20% of the student population, but since many students study overseas, the percentage studying at postsecondary level is considerably higher than this. In terms of the medium of instruction, Hong Kong has moved from a dual system in which students either studied through Chinese or English, with a reasonably even balance in the numbers of students in the two streams, to one in which most students (more than 90%) study through the medium of Chinese at primary level (grades 1–6) and then switch to English medium on entry to secondary schooling (grades 7–13). In effect, Hong Kong has moved from an elite early immersion programme to an almost universal late immersion programme.

The period of expansion was also a period of rapid localisation within the teaching force. Expansion was the priority, and no adequate measures were taken to ensure that teachers met appropriate standards of English. By the 1980s, very few schools had native speakers of English on their staff, and these were normally employed as teachers of English as a subject and not in content subject areas.