CRITICISM of the use of Cantonese for teaching in schools has forced the Government to consider switching to Putonghua.
Education chief Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun was responding to two leading education advisers who condemned the policy of using Cantonese because it was 'heading to a dead end'.
But Mrs Law said it might be difficult to use Putonghua at schools because the language was not part of the Hong Kong scene.
'We have to consider teachers' proficiency in Putonghua. If they can't deliver their lessons fluently, it will affect the students' learning.' She said the policy of teaching in Cantonese had improved the language proficiency of students and generated interest in study.
A number of schools were now using Putonghua as the medium of instruction and their experience would be used as a reference point by the Education Department, Mrs Law said.
Tso Kai-lok, of the concern group Education Convergence, said: 'Strictly speaking, Putonghua is not our mother tongue. Cantonese is a dialect but it is our first language.
