Colonial rule has ended. But everybody is still clamouring to learn English, so much so that the Government has to force most secondary schools to stop using it as the teaching language because most students cannot cope.
From next September, all secondary schools will be required to teach in Chinese - most students' mother tongue - although they will continue to teach English as a subject.
If they want to use English as the medium of instruction, more than 85 per cent of their students must have enough skill in the language to benefit from its use in class.
Their teachers must also be certified as capable of lecturing in English. According to an unofficial estimate, only about 100 schools will satisfy these conditions.
Schools that do not use the right teaching language will be subject to sanctions under the Education Ordinance, which empowers the director of education to bring them into line.
The timing of the move towards using Chinese as the medium of instruction could easily lead uninformed observers to label it a step towards de-colonising the education system.
While the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty has made the population more receptive to the change, it is important to note that this initiative has been taken primarily for sound educational reasons.