The government is trying to convert all schools to Chinese language, critics say
The government was yesterday accused of marginalising English-medium schools and ignoring parents' needs after it was revealed that some schools might be forced to switch to mother-tongue education if their standard was found to have dropped.
'If the government wants all schools to convert to Chinese-medium, then say so, and we will all convert,' said Brother Thomas Lavin, principal of English-medium La Salle College. 'But don't narrow down the situation to a standoff between the two groups of schools because that is not education, but politics.'
The Post reported yesterday that the government was set to reassess the 112 English-medium schools to see if they were still fit to teach in the language. Details of the plan will be covered in a consultation document to be released later this year.
The move follows an analysis of this year's HKCEE results by the Education and Manpower Bureau which showed the performance of Chinese-medium schools had improved over the past two years, while the opposite happened in the English-medium.
Brother Lavin said it was wrong to judge the schools' performance solely on HKCEE results.
He expected results from English-medium schools to worsen in the coming years, as the first students admitted after schools switched from five to three bands in 2000 would sit for the HKCEE next year.
