Critics yesterday hit out at a plan by a government advisory body to overhaul language tests in Hong Kong, saying it would only cater to the needs of employers.
Details of the proposed tests, which would cover Cantonese, English and Putonghua and would apply to everyone from primary school students to professionals - forming a reference point for prospective employers - were revealed by the South China Morning Post yesterday.
Candidates would be given separate grades for comprehension, writing, listening and speaking, allowing employers to pick applicants according to their needs.
The Hong Kong Association for Continuing Education said the tests would undermine the purpose of learning languages. 'The teaching of languages at school should not be rendered a form of drilling only for employment's sake,' association vice-chairman Mervyn Cheung Man-ping said.
'Otherwise, it won't be studying the language as a language, but as some practical skill applicable to the commercial world.
'I can see that the teaching of poems and literature, an integral part of language education, will be greatly reduced if such a test becomes the only yardstick.'
The president of the Federation of Student Unions, Fung Ka-keung, has similar concerns. 'The Government would be agreeing to create such a test just because the employers thought it was a good idea,' he said.