The handover is approaching and education policy in Hong Kong is undergoing change.
A few months ago, university vice-chancellors were discussing the alteration for the duration of an undergraduate degree to four years, to come into line with China's education system.
Last month, the Education Department announced that all public and subsidised secondary schools would have to use Chinese as the medium of instruction next year, unless they were given an exemption from the department on the grounds of special circumstances.
In the short-term, I think this decision will be to the detriment of Hong Kong students.
Firstly, there are not enough reference books in Chinese.
Pupils in Chinese secondary schools often have to buy simplified character books from the PRC. The quality of current English reference books is high. It will be hard for publishers to translate such books into Chinese for the next academic session.
Without sufficient reference material, the academic development of students will be adversely affected.
