In the 1970s, the late Oxford philosopher Geoffrey Warnock came up with the concept of 'limited sympathies' in his excellent book The Object of Morality. He argued that the aim of morality was the amelioration of the human predicament by countering our limited sympathies. Moral notions were dictated by this exercise. The arguments in the book are complicated and discussion in the field has moved on, but Warnock offers a powerful counterbalance to the often utilitarian nature of debates about the purpose of education and reform. Hong Kong is a case in point, with strategies more often than not judged by the facilitation of material achievement rather than the fulfilment of the individual. Although this approach is slowly changing, it highlights the way issues are perceived here. They are practical problems to be dealt with, mostly by the imposition of top-down solutions. The minority education issue shows how this approach goes horribly wrong. Non-Chinese-speaking pupils from a number of ethnic backgrounds suffer from a range of serious problems. Many are denied the chance to develop because they are marginalised by the lack of a suitable language curriculum. Others study in adverse conditions - such as those found in Poinsettia School in Yuen Long - while brand new schools often stand empty because of poor social planning. The key word here is 'suffer'. Recent headlines tell the story. 'ED denies need for ethnic school', 'EMB rules out ethnic curriculum', 'Minority schooling far from ideal', 'Language a prison, words a sentence' and 'Equality chief accepts language fears'. Progress, if at all, is slow. Which brings us to the controversy over Deputy Secretary Bernadette Linn Hon-ho's comments to Legco. Has the Education and Manpower Bureau established that students who study GCSE Chinese can gain acceptance to Hong Kong universities? She says a debate has been initiated through the University Grants Committee. Universities largely deny this. Having written a letter to the SCMP this week, she was then unavailable to discuss this important matter further. Whatever message was sent through the UGC appears to have failed to reach universities, and this saga is likely to produce yet another of those headlines. The minority education issue is more than just another problem in need of a strategic solution. Countering our limited sympathies for linguistically handcuffed and socially deprived pupils will propel us to take immediate steps to ameliorate suffering. Sincerity needs to translate into action. We make no apologies for keeping this issue to the fore and will continue to do so until these children can benefit from an education system that gives them an equal start in life.
