According to the data provided by Hong Kong Unison, the number of non-Chinese speaking children receiving education in public sector schools Hong Kong is estimated to be about 8,000, mainly of Indian, Pakistani, Nepalese and Filipino origins.
Many were born in Hong Kong or have been in Hong Kong for so many years that they can speak Cantonese but cannot read or write it.
Most cannot afford the fees charged by international schools and must therefore go to local government or aided schools, where they study the same Chinese language curriculum as local students, which is too difficult for them.
The Education and Manpower Bureau (EMB) has yet to design curriculum guidelines for Chinese as a second language. However, applicants for degree courses or for jobs - in particular for civil service posts - must have attained a certain level of proficiency or qualification in Chinese in recognised open examinations.
There are now four secondary schools and eight primary schools specifically recruiting non-Chinese-speaking students. From 2004, such students could be admitted to other mainstream schools where Chinese is the medium of instruction. However, due to the language barrier they become underdogs in a community which prides itself on fairness and justice for all. Can we, as educational professionals, turn a blind eye to these students? The EMB has only encouraged schools to develop school-based curriculum, but shrugged off its responsibility of co-ordinating the development of curricula and refused to take leadership in curriculum design. It is considering making arrangements for them to participate in the GCSE (Chinese) examination in Hong Kong from next year. This can be a first step, although the suitability of the GCSE needs to be carefully considered because it is designed for students in the UK who have even less exposure to Chinese.
According to the data provided by the Home Affairs Department in 2006, the number of residents of those ethnic minority groups living in Hong Kong is estimated to be about 343,950, 5.1 per cent of the population. With out their integration into the community there will be social problems.
