Contemporary Education in Hong Kong | EDUCATION IN HONG KONG by Luis Martinez

Contemporary Hong Kong: a pulsating city in the process of defining what it means to be considered global and modernized. Visitors experience a rare form of exhilaration upon arrival to the island for the first time. Five senses are immediately captivated by fluorescent lights, bustling public transportation, and fresh seafood sashimi. It is impossible to escape the crowds and you feel swept up in a stream of urban, perpetual motion. You find a unique convergence of British and Chinese traditions. You’ll land at the Chep Lap Kok airport and then take Queen Victoria Street through downtown. Chinese associates will greet you at your hotel speaking perfect English. You’ll have dinner at the top of a high rise, offering a menu that includes chicken feet, roasted goose, and bacon cheeseburgers. This is modern Hong Kong.

This vibrant region brings with it an educational system and history just as distinct. The people of Hong Kong embraced a sense of unity after the Second World War. This included a complete restructuring, both literally and figuratively, of their education system. School buildings, which had been razed by the Japanese, were re-built and new curriculums introduced more English, science, and technical studies. This era ushered in the growth of population, which characterizes Hong Kong until this day. Enrollments in local schools were no exception, and grew at an astonishing rate. The 1947 census of Hong Kong showed 1,800,000 people living in the region compared to only 700,000 that were present at the end of World War II. This growing influx led to the modernization of the education system.

This development included newly established teacher training programs (for up to two years, part-time), additional bigger schools were built, and curriculums were introduced that supported the increasing economic emphasis toward industry and technology. In 1948, the government offered more than HK$4,000,000 in major grants to the University of Hong Kong to expand formal education. This was quite a bit of money back then and put the institution on track to provide necessary resources to the growing workforce. In addition, and around the same time, several other post-secondary colleges started popping up in the area. These were established to support students who were less linguistically capable than those being admitted to the University (i.e. lacked speaking capacities in English). Organizations, such as the Chinese Manufacturers Association, began offering donations towards the construction of technical colleges if the government agreed to match the amount and provide land. The government responded by acknowledging the importance of increased manpower in its relation to the burgeoning economy, and provided more and more funding and land to support educational causes. At present there are hundreds of high schools and ten institutions of higher education in Hong Kong that provide full degree diplomas.

In the 1960’s, federal education committees began to arrive in Hong Kong in order to assess the overall educational needs and progress of the region. As a result, policy changes were introduced that addressed primary education, secondary education, teacher training, salary structures, and the reconstruction of the educational department itself. Although I will avoid going into the detail of these policy changes it will suffice to say that Britain agreed to the fact that increased funding was necessary to aid Hong Kongese institutions at all levels.

Unfortunately, this pouring in of federal money was not the airtight solution many had hoped for. The population has continued to balloon and space, as well as resources and qualified teachers, are still hard to come by. Education itself has splintered. For example, there are schools operated by British societies, by Christian churches, by Americans, and of course by the government. The geography of the island determines access and many schools available to lower income students are located between floors or in multi-storied buildings. Needless to say, this sort of set up is not conducive to learning. Higher income families can afford to send their children to schools that are relatively isolated and spacious, however, these are rare and difficult to get into.

Today’s educational environment still strongly reflects that of the United Kingdom, however, obviously not as much as it did in the mid-20^th century. The format remains the same, in that primary school consists of Grades 1-6, secondary school consists of Forms 1-5, and students who intend to enroll in a university complete an additional two years of secondary school (Forms 6 and 7). In 1997, the UK returned the control of Hong Kong back to China. Ever since, the region has been considered a “Special Administrative Region” of China and operating under a “one country, two system” governmental policy. This means that they have a separate set of laws and politics, except in regards to foreign relations and military defense. Needless to say, the past fifteen years have seen their fair share of transition. There has been a shift in curriculum, assessment, and language instruction with new focuses being placed on internationalization. English, although widely used in Hong Kong, it is a major focus of study and faculty members at both public and private schools represent an international community.

The shifts in educational reform have not eliminated the standardized testing culture that exists in Hong Kong. Students in primary and secondary school are widely tested, especially in Grade 6, Form 5, and then again in Form 7 to determine placement. International schools use the exams administered by their sponsor countries.

Hong Kong schools are placed into four separate categories. There are groups of schools that we would consider “public” in the United States because they are completely run by the government. Others are run by charitable or religious organizations, yet are still partially subsidized by the government. “Private” schools consist of international or religious institutions that are able to financially support themselves. These usually provide the IB curriculum to their students.

Hong Kong has experienced an accelerated development of its economy and urban constructs. This is due, greatly in part, to the attention, resources, and esteem attributed to its educational institutions. Although they have their own challenges, I’m confident that the region will continue to prosper as long as they maintain education in its historically high regard.