Hong Kong’s ethnic minority pupils still struggling with Cantonese at school – despite annual funding of HK$200 million, NGO finds
Hong Kong Unison said its research found biggest difficulty for schools was catering for varied Chinese language abilities of ethnic minority pupils
Ethnic minority children in Hong Kong are struggling to learn Cantonese because schools are not equipped to teach it as a second language, even though the government devotes HK$200 million (US$25.6 million) a year to the cause, an NGO said on Monday.
“This report found that although the government has been investing resources for non-Chinese students, it has not fully responded to their learning needs, or assisted teachers in formulating effective learning strategies,” Unison executive director Phyllis Cheung Fung-mei said.
Research officer Li Sin-lam said: “The framework cannot cater to this learning discrepancy. There is an objective for the ethnic minorities to be able to learn in mainstream schools, but schools cannot do it.”
Lawmakers Ip Kin-yuen of the education sector and Claudia Mo Man-ching of HK First, who both sit on the Legislative Council’s subcommittee on the rights of ethnic minorities, said the government was throwing money away.