Small-class teaching policy is an investment in Hong Kong's future

There has been a heated debate over whether the government should implement small-class teaching. I believe most people in Hong Kong support this policy because they think it will be advantageous to students and to our future society.

The problem we face in Hong Kong is a low birth rate, which means that there is a decrease in the number of school-age students. The government has concerns about small-class teaching. The Education Bureau would prefer to close some primary and secondary schools which have low enrolment to reduce costs.

I think there is too much emphasis placed on the financial issue. Instead we should be looking at the advantages of handling smaller classes and the fact that they allow teachers to pay more attention to each student.

Japan has already introduced small classes and, being in compact groups, the students are more actively involved. The learning process has improved in the classroom environment. This set-up makes it easier for teachers to prepare tailor-made resources. They make the necessary changes that will benefit all the pupils. If the government adopts this policy it will also provide more teachers with job security, whereas if schools shut down, as the government has indicated, many teachers will become redundant.

This is a waste of resources. These professionals spent years training to work in this specialist field and will now find they are no longer able to do so. As more of them lose their positions the unemployment rate will go up in Hong Kong.

It may be true that the cost of implementing small-class teaching will be high. However, the government should not be focusing on the financial aspect. It is the quality of the teaching that should matter.