When will Hong Kong realise that its exam-focused culture is failing our children?

There is a strong desire to scrap the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) for Primary Three children (aged 9), with critics of the exam claiming that the extensive drills and practice are counterproductive in nurturing young minds. The government seems to accept the recommendation from a working group that 90 per cent of primary school pupils could be exempted from taking it this year.

In fact, the TSA problem is just one symptom; it is not the core issue. The major challenge in Hong Kong’s education system is the exam-orientated culture, which has largely gone unrecognised in the recent debate. I am not saying exams are a bad thing, but it is inappropriate and ineffective to spend all our time and effort focusing only on examinations. If we do, the learning process will be distorted, restricted and far from pleasant.

Hong Kong’s education system has been undergoing major reform, with the idea of making the learning process more enjoyable. The setting up of the TSA to replace previous tests of children’s ability is a classic example of how a project’s implementation and impact can be distorted once it is part of the system. Indeed, there is still much debate about how the education system should be run.

Our exam-orientated culture allows the system to identify the 18 per cent of students who can go on to publicly funded tertiary institutions. Meanwhile, the other 82 per cent are studying a curriculum which benefit them very little.

Students have no choice but to concentrate on exams to meet university entrance requirements. There are local alternatives, such as vocational training courses, but these do not appeal greatly to students, or to their parents. It is in fact parents’ prejudice, plus the limited choice of jobs for young people, that has helped create this reality. That’s why every stakeholder currently emphasises success in exams, and it also explains why after-school tuition classes are such big business in this town.

I ended up sending my son to Australia to continue his high school education at the age of 14, due to the very demanding local curriculum. He tried, and struggled, for a while and it didn’t take him long to lose interest in studying, instead preferring to play soccer and be with his school friends, which is of course normal for someone his age.