SCHOOLS will be forced to teach pupils in Chinese if Education Department guidelines are not met by 1998, the Sunday Morning Post can reveal.
According to current department recommendations, that means 95 schools that are now teaching in English will be teaching in Chinese within the next four years.
Parents still prefer their children to be taught in English, despite evidence that many perform better if taught in their first language. Pupils themselves are split between those who complain about the extra effort needed and those who believe English will improve their status and job prospects.
Until now the department has only said it will use ''firm guidance'' to persuade the majority of schools to change from English medium to Chinese medium teaching.
But last week Anthony Poon Hon-hung, a senior education officer, said the department would ''guarantee'' that all the schools it believed should be teaching in Chinese would be by 1998.
Although schools would only be ''encouraged'' and ''advised'' to switch to Chinese, non-compliance would be monitored and the changeover would be ''guaranteed''.
He admitted that convincing parents of the benefits of mother-tongue learning was a difficult task, but added: ''If the schools switch to Chinese, then the parents have no choice.'' This was reaffirmed by a spokesman within the department, who said: ''We anticipate that in the coming few years more schools will choose the language as recommended by the Education Department.