Lawmaker says government moving in wrong direction
Leading academics have rejected claims that adjustments to the medium of instruction policy will improve the standard of English among Hong Kong students.
Their comments followed a submission to the Legislative Council by the Education Bureau yesterday that the changes made public yesterday would increase students' exposure to English.
The head of the Hong Kong Institute of Education's department of English, Andy Kirkpatrick, said it was difficult to say whether fine-tuning the language policy would improve students' English levels.
'It's unlikely. You'll get more pressure for classes to be taught in the English medium; that means more teachers have to teach in English,' he said, adding that he was not sure the city had enough teachers with the necessary skills.
The English language requirement for content subject teachers would be very high, and they would need extensive training, he said.