Letters | Hong Kong schools: why pass-fail system is no way to deepen patriotic feelings

The education secretary seems surprisingly unaware of Hong Kong’s exam-oriented school culture. A switch to a pass-or-fail system for liberal studies will mean less incentive for grade-conscious students to study hard and excel at knowledge of the motherland and patriotic values

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Secondary school students sit the Diploma of Secondary Education exam in Hong Kong on April 28. The 2020 exams were delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:10am, 8 Dec 2020Updated: 7:10am, 8 Dec 2020

It is no secret that the government is trying to tame rebellious Hong Kong students by targeting the education sector. Education Secretary Kevin Yeung’s recent proposal to revise the curriculum for liberal studies is just another step in this direction.

Of course, requesting that he retract this decision would be useless, as the authorities are hell-bent on reforming Hong Kong education. However, I can’t help being surprised by Mr Yeung’s apparent ignorance of Hong Kong’s education culture in proposing to adopt a pass-or-fail grading system for the contentious school subject.

Mr Yeung seems to forget that our education system is highly exam-oriented, and university admission policy determines how much effort students allocate for different subjects. Take Chinese, for example: thousands of students attend tuition classes in the subject because of the universities’ rigid requirements.

Therefore, Mr Yeung’s idea of pass-or-fail grading can only have two consequences. First, this will have little impact on the academic pressure faced by students. Already at least 85 per cent of school candidates attain a level 2 or above in liberal studies for the Diploma of Secondary Education examination, meaning that the subject is not a major obstacle to university admission. The admission policy of “best five scores” has also reduced the importance of the subject. As a pass is equivalent to the current level 2 or above, what is the difference then with the new system, I wonder?

Also, the subject will have much less influence on students. The new subject is expected to include topics like the constitutional order of China, to deepen our students’ sense of belonging to the motherland. However, since the government is adopting the new grading system, the new “refined” subject will become much less important than before in the university admission process. As students will think the subject is only a waste of time, important ideas covered in the subject will barely leave a mark on children’s minds.