City should be more socially inclusive
As a citizen from an ethnic minority group growing up in Hong Kong, I was happy to see the expressions of fulfilment on the faces of five ethnic minority youngsters and their parents who participated in a summer programme organised by our faculty last month.
These young people were supported by scholarships provided by the faculty and this helped them to experience for five days what it was like to be a university student. This kind of experience is very valuable to teenagers from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, because many of them do not know these scholarships exist or do not think about applying for them. According to the Census and Statistics Department data from 2011, only 26.4 per cent of South Asian young people aged between 19 and 24 received higher education in Hong Kong.
I believe programmes and exchange opportunities are important for underprivileged youths. They help to empower their educational aspirations, building self-confidence and fulfilling social and psychological needs. When I listened to these five young people sharing their experiences, I was struck by one thing. All five of these secondary school students now believe that, like their local counterparts, if they study hard, they can become undergraduates at a university.
I am glad that, in recent years, more of these opportunities have been made available to young people from ethnic minorities. However, still, many of them cannot participate because of financial constraints. And often they do not know about programmes like the one offered by our faculty, because the promotional material is in Chinese only. And even if the information is available on social media platforms, again, it is normally in Chinese. As a member of an ethnic minority in a developed city, I really wish our city could be more socially inclusive so that more young people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds could enjoy a level playing field.
This would give them a better chance of fulfilling their dreams and aspirations.