Letters | Hong Kong school system is to blame for poor English standards among kids
- Even students from schools that have adopted English as the medium of instruction are not fluent in the language. The Education Bureau has failed to improve the status quo
The Education Bureau has a set of rules and standards for teachers in schools which use English as the medium of instruction. But many simply don’t abide by them.
The shocking reality is that almost all lessons except for English are taught in Cantonese, and quite a number of students cannot correctly construct relatively complicated sentences. This is because of the Education Bureau’s useless monitoring system.
Every now and then, the bureau sends officers in charge of the quality of education to schools to examine the performance of the teachers. However, schools may prepare students for such visits, giving the government officials a false impression.
The bureau must be aware of this, but simply doesn’t bother improving the status quo.
Three in five secondary schools back lowering language requirement
It’s infuriating that it is rare for the children of senior government officials to matriculate locally, even though these officials often proclaim the excellence of Hong Kong’s education system.
Barry Leung, Lam Tin
