A school will be eligible for the new Putonghua support scheme if 20 per cent of its Chinese language teachers pass one of two qualifying tests.
Michael Tien Pak-sun, chairman of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research, yesterday said 20 per cent, numbering two or three, of the Chinese language teachers in a school would have to either pass the Putonghua benchmark test administered by Hong Kong or obtain a Grade B, Level Two on the Putonghua Shuiping Ceshi, administered by the central government's State Language Commission, for the school to take part in the scheme.
The guideline came after principals voiced worry yesterday over the lack of Putonghua teachers complying with the scheme's entry criteria.
Under the three-year scheme, a school will receive teaching consultancy from local and Pearl River Delta experts. It will also get extra money to hire teachers to reduce class loads so that Chinese language teachers can focus on mastering Putonghua as a new medium of instruction.
At the end of the three years, schools need to show five Chinese language classes can be taught using Putonghua. Students' ability to learn using Putonghua will be assessed, but details are to be worked out.
The principals also feared students might be unable to adapt to pure Putonghua teaching and that mixing Cantonese and Putonghua could confuse students. Mr Tien said schools would need to judge which language to use on a lesson-by-lesson basis. Cantonese would be allowed to ease discussions on difficult subjects, but he stressed there would be no code mixing. There was no definite standard governing the amount of Cantonese to be used and schools could decide on their own.