A remarkable fact that has often escaped attention in the debate on the standard of English in Hong Kong is that, until now, qualifications have not been needed to teach the language in our schools. This unsatisfactory situation has been brought to an end by the benchmark test for English teachers. A major step has, therefore, been taken in achieving our city's objective of raising the community's command of the leading international language.
It is often claimed that English proficiency among Hong Kong Chinese used to be higher, but this is a myth. The idea that standards have been allowed to drop since the 1997 handover for political reasons is also a serious misunderstanding.
In fact, the number of local people with good English-language skills has always been small. It has been rising steadily since the introduction of universal schooling in the late 1970s. The perception that standards have declined has been created because many more people are speaking and writing some English, rather than none at all.
In this predominantly Chinese society, where Cantonese is spoken in most homes and one can survive without English, it is unrealistic to expect the majority to become fluent in English. But poor teaching, particularly at the pre-school and primary levels, has compounded the problem. On average, a primary school pupil spends five hours a week, 36 weeks a year, for six years in English lessons. Yet only about 40 per cent are judged capable of learning in English in secondary schools.
The benchmark test for English teachers has exposed the alarming reality that many of them are barely capable of communicating in the language, let alone teaching it. Since the test was launched five years ago, hundreds of serving teachers have quit or moved to teach other subjects. They are being replaced by qualified ones who have passed the test and received professional training in teaching English as a foreign language.
Every effort should be made to help those weeded out by the test to find alternative employment, as they are victims of a system that allowed them to teach without the necessary qualifications. But calls for an extension of the grace period to give them one more chance to pass should be rejected, as they have already been given ample time to do so. The irresponsible practice of allowing unqualified teachers to teach English has gone on for too long.