The language of debate

Shocked and heartbroken. That was how Eleanor Yeung Yee-na felt when she learnt her alma mater, St Stephen's College, was one of 24 secondary schools that would not be allowed to use English as their medium of instruction from next year.

She protests in English: 'We don't want to be like the Malaysians but Singaporeans, who are more international.' The 24-year-old Chinese newspaper journalist is not alone in her distress. Fellow alumnus Francoise Chuang Fung-yuk, 23, believes her college education in English (pupils were fined $1 if they were caught speaking Cantonese on campus in her day) prepared her well for a career in the hotel industry.

'In hotels, I meet overseas guests all the time and knowing English makes it easier for me to communicate with them as well as my English-speaking bosses,' says Ms Chuang, who left St Stephen's in 1992 before studying hotel management in Switzerland.

'When I was studying abroad, my proficiency in English made it easier to learn my subjects and communicate with other students and teachers. I was not worried at all when faced with the language.' It is little wonder Ms Chuang is horrified by the Education Department's decision to 'force' St Stephen's to switch its medium of instruction from English to Chinese.

A total of 124 Hong Kong secondary schools applied to retain English as their medium of instruction after the department's latest drive to promote mother-tongue teaching. But 24 fell short of the requirements set down by its vetting committee.

Some of these schools - their principals, teachers and students - have already protested openly against the decision. Tomorrow is the deadline for appeals to the Education Department.

While the department has withheld the names of rejected applicants, it has been reported they include: Jockey Club Ti-I College, St Stephen's College (Stanley), Salesian English School, Cheung Sha Wan Catholic Secondary School, Saint Louis Secondary School, Law Ting Pong Secondary School, Maryknoll Fathers' School, Pope Paul VI College, St Francis Xavier's School (Tsuen Wan), Carmel Secondary School, Madam Lau Kam Lung Secondary School, Shung Tak Catholic English College (Yuen Long) and Rhenish Church Pang Hok Ko Memorial College, Shun Tak Fraternal Association Lee Shau Kee College and St Antonius Girls' College.