Ms Kwong continues with 'Whether local students' English standard is poor is a moot point'. Sorry, that is exactly the point. The role of ESF is to teach children who already speak English, not to teach someone how to speak English. Local EMI schools are different. They are designed to teach non-native English speakers and still must use Cantonese to explain items, whereas ESF does not use Cantonese at all and the curriculum is designed for native-speaker quality students. The bottom line is this - if your child cannot pass the basic entry testing for an ESF school, then your child simply does not belong there. What Ms Kwong is suggesting amounts to turning the ESF into another local EMI school, which is not what the ESF was created for.

Ms Kwong does bring up an excellent point that 'quality difference across school districts is a universal problem'. Yes, it is a problem and will continue to be so until the unfair banding is done away with. Make all schools equal in the eyes of government funding and introduce the concept of 'neighbourhood schools.' HK could simplify life and lead the world in returning 'common sense' to education.

JAMES WARREN, Tsz Wan Shan

Complacency the enemy of a free society

As a Canadian-born Chinese law student, I arrived in Hong Kong in January to do an exchange semester at Hong Kong University. The experience has been extremely interesting. The high calibre of students is undeniable, as is their work ethic. However, the more I interacted with my peers in the classroom, the more I noticed an alarming trend: complacency towards government. The Hong Kong students often saw no need to question or second-guess their government as long as business was booming. The re-occurring theme was consistently that government should be given the freedom to work unimpeded.

I believe my Chinese upbringing gives me some insight on this complacency. It is easy to focus on grades, jobs and money. Our parents almost demand this from us. Why question the government when things are going well?

It seems the students do not realise the gift they have been given: the gift of being in an open, free society. It is up to all people, but especially my fellow classmates in legal studies, to challenge their leaders to ensure that the government is running fairly and efficiently. The media must continue to probe, the lawyers must continue to attack inequities and the people must continue to demand democratic principles. The failure to do so may lead to grave results. We do not have to look far for an example.

SAMO LEE, Canada

Small is better when it comes to learning

In April, Education Minister Michael Suen Ming-yeung said he was planning to reduce the maximum size of Form One classes from 40 to 36 over the next two years. I support the move to small-class learning.

I think co-operation is as important as knowledge for students. They can learn communication and co-operation skills when they do group work or participate in class activities. They can apply these skills in their career when they grow up. The best time to learn good communication skills is during adolescence. If there are problems in how you communicate , they will follow you even when you are in your career.

Small-class learning can help teachers keep an eye on each student and help encourage their all-round development. When there are too many students in a class, teachers are too busy to take care of each of them.

MUKY KUNG, Methodist College

Include local teachers in lucrative NET?

Native English Teachers are given an allowance of HK$12,950 to help cover rental expenses and they would like this allowance to be increased to HK$18,000, according to a report in Education Post ('NETs petition for allowance rise up to 31pc', May 24). How come local teachers don't get a rental allowance?

RENNIE MARQUES, Mei Foo Sun Chuen