English-medium policies derail the schooling through-train Should Hong Kong reduce the number of secondary schools using English as the medium of instruction (EMI)?
Parents whose children must face the proposed educational changes who wish their youngsters to benefit from a broad exposure to English, especially in subjects like science that will benefit their livelihoods, should be worried.
The Education Commission has mandated a review of the medium-of-instruction policy. There are three possible outcomes: an increased number of EMI schools; keeping the present number of 112; a decrease in the number by some elimination method. The first outcome is not acceptable, since it goes against the mother-tongue policy. The second would be a waste of time and energy. So the only possible outcome is a reduction in the number of EMI schools, with severe damage to standards and morale in those eliminated and an unhealthy scramble for the fewer available places.
The saddest feature of the Education Commission's proposal is the damage done to the 'through-train' concept. This scheme envisages linking primary and secondary schools, sparing pupils the trauma of central computer dice-rolling and being rejected after Primary Six. Already, many principals of well-established EMI secondary schools are abandoning the through-train possibility and are being forced to select only elite students in their district in order to maintain standards and survive.
If the Education and Manpower Bureau is really serious about mother-tongue instruction, it should bite the bullet and forbid all schools from using English. Make all subsidised secondary schools equal - eliminate the language difference. Let them compete fairly on the basis of teacher dedication, student conduct and academic achievement. Parents will then be able to make intelligent choices, rather than be coerced by the Education Commission's proposed divisive and unfair system.
J. GARNER,
Shamshuipo
