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DO NOT SPEAK THE TRUTH IN HONG KONG
No university for the poor.
By: Dr.Asmat Hayat ALVI.
Read! In the name of your Lord Who has created (all that exists)
Al-Quran surat Al-Alaq (The Clot, 96-1)
After bread, education is the first need of the people
George Danton, French revolutionary (1759-1794)
Importance of higher and quality education is admitted in every society. Every good administration provides equal opportunities to people; to get better and standardized education and try best to help those; who are poor but hard-working and intelligent. It seems Hong Kong administration is lacking sense in this regard. Hong Kong administration has divided education into two categories; education for elite and education for working class, and then into many sub-categories, just for the benefit of elite class.
For example;
1- Education for rich Chinese and Westerns. Education is costly but most schools are government funded. In these schools medium of instruction is English and atmosphere is western. After completion education from these schools; most students get admission in local universities on priority and later become government officials or business elites.
2- Education for poor Chinese. Education is free up-to form five (matric or school level). Medium of instruction is Chinese; in some schools medium of instruction is English as well. Sadly most ethnically Chinese Teachers are not proficient in speaking-English. Hong Kong colleges and universities are costly, so most students from poor Chinese families end their education after leaving schools.
3- Education for poor Ethnic Minorities. Education is free and in some schools books and transportation is free also; because most ethnic minorities from Asian countries earn less than ten thousand HK dollars per month and they cannot afford books and transportation.
Medium of instruction in these schools is English. Most ethnic minorities’ children cannot get admission in local
universities; as they cannot read or write Cantonese. It’s a
basic requirement for a HK resident student, imposed by
local universities after July 1st 1997.
Secondly, Hong Kong colleges and universities are costly,
only a friction of ethnic minorities can afford fees, so most
students of Asian Ethnic Minorities will have to stop their
education unwillingly, after leaving schools.
4- Education for foreigners. Only few foreigner students at university levels get admission. Some are given scholarship; most among these students belong to Asian countries.
One very interesting and painful thing is this; that children of ethnic minorities cannot get admission in HK universities even if they are far better than foreign scholarship holder students. Interestingly many ethnic minorities student get admission in some top universities of USA and other western countries. In other words Education System in HK is humiliating and insulting for poor but brilliant students of HK.
Instead of doing positive and really constructive; Hong Kong administration just show-off things. For example HK administration gives one thousand HK dollars to each pre-primary student of poor families under Education Voucher Scheme.
If a family is earning ten thousand HK dollars per-months it’s really hard for them to educate two children even if they are provided two vouchers each month, as inflation is on peak levels and prices are rising daily. If family consists of four members; living in Housing Department flat; they have to spend seven to eight thousand HK dollars on food and other basic necessities; how they can provide education to two children in four thousand dollars? Can HK administrator or any other officer make a tailor-cut budget for a family of four earning ten thousand dollars per month?
No family can survive and educate their children in twelve thousand dollars in these days. Most families borrow money from their relatives for better education of their children and cannot pay-back in coming many years; in most cases cannot pay back in life; as time goes their children grow, need more money and they have to borrow more and more money to educate their children.
It’s a point to note that in HK ninety per-cent people belong to working class among them sixty per cent are considered low-income families and twenty per cent people are living under poverty line. It’s very painful that a very small percentage of children from poor families of HK get admission in universities; those complete their degrees can be counted on finger tips.
If Hong Kong wants to maintain her position in the region and desires to retain her reputation; administration of HK should take revolutionary steps to reform Education System.
To emphasize my point; I want to quote few lines from the editorial of the South China Morning Post; a leading English language new-paper of Hong Kong, published on Thursday, August 26, 2010.
Editorial heading is
Our thinking on education must change
Editorial starts with these lines;
In keeping with the tradition of most developed societies, public education in Hong Kong is free-at least as far as schooling goes. But parents who want the best for their children know there are plenty of extra costs that add up quickly in the pressure-cooker environment for the top pupils and schools. It is an issue that education authorities need to address, and not simply with subsidies and voucher schemes.
The ending lines of editorial are;
Hong Kong has few natural advantages; the resilience and drive of its people are one of them. Any education system that does not maximize the capabilities and opportunities for our pupils undercuts our long-term competitiveness.
According to my opinion education should be free for brilliant and needy students at all levels irrespective of classes; this policy will be beneficial in long run for everyone living in Hong Kong.
April 27th 2011
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