There are times when Hayley Goldberg wishes she knew Chinese and could offer more help to her daughter Ativa. A Primary Two pupil, Ativa attends a local school in Ma On Shan, where every subject apart from English is taught and assessed in Chinese.
'At the beginning there were six notices from the school every second day. I didn't know what was going on,' says Goldberg, a South African who teaches at an international school. 'I have to get everything translated by my students. It's crazy that I can't be a part of my child's life.'
But she is determined that Ativa should master the Chinese language. 'For a child to be bilingual or trilingual is a prerequisite to finding a job in the globalised world,' she says.
As Hong Kong parents scramble for places in international schools, some non-Chinese families are enrolling their children in the local system where Cantonese - and increasingly Putonghua - is the medium of instruction. Some parents are keen to take advantage of the heavily subsidised education system; others want their children to have a good grasp of Chinese and become well versed with the culture. They employ different strategies to help their children learn the language and adjust to school life of a different sort.
Goldberg sent Ativa to a local kindergarten to immerse her daughter in an authentic Chinese learning environment as early as possible. 'The beginning was tough. But she is a strong, feisty little girl and likes to be challenged. Eventually, she started picking up a few words.'
Like other Hong Kong children, Ativa applied for a place in a local school through the Primary One Admission System. An education official told Goldberg that her daughter would be expected to have attained a reasonable level of Chinese and that no accommodation would be made for her in school. However, Ativa has adapted to the curriculum - she came 13 in a class of 25 - as well as the daily routine, including an after-school tutorial class and an array of extracurricular activities.