Hong Kong needed to improve its education support for ethnic minorities or it would 'fail to qualify as a world city', lawmakers said.
The Legislative Council education panel called on officials to set up a panel of language experts to produce a 'comprehensive set' of textbooks for second-language learners of Chinese, stretching from primary to secondary schools.
'We are all trying hard to improve education for these students,' said Abraham Razack, legislator for the real estate and construction sector. 'All students have a right to receive a good education and in Hong Kong they should have this chance.'
He said producing high-quality textbooks would boost the learning of pupils from non-Chinese-speaking families.
'If we fail to do that we cannot qualify as a world city,' Mr Razack said. 'We must not rob them of opportunity.'
Principal assistant secretary for education Catherine Chan Ka-ki said the Education Bureau was producing two to three sets of textbooks - based on teaching materials developed by local schools - which were almost ready for publication.
Dr Chan said students from ethnic minorities tended to be at very different Chinese levels within the same class. She pledged that the bureau would also develop assessment tools to help teachers judge what stage pupils had reached.