Letters | Smaller classes a blessing, not a worry, for Hong Kong students

Readers discuss dwindling student numbers in Hong Kong, universal health screening, putting dolphins in zoos, the chief executive’s connection with the common people and promoting plant-based meat

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Students attend the first day of the school year at Fukien Secondary School Affiliated School in Yau Tong on September 1. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 6:30am, 8 Nov 2021

With recent student numbers dwindling, stakeholders from all walks of life should embrace this phenomenon with open arms rather than be sceptical about the state of affairs (“Authorities urged to cut class sizes, attract mainland Chinese pupils to ensure Hong Kong schools’ survival”, October 13).

Gone should be the classes of yesteryear where it was the norm to have upwards of 40 students in a class. Such circumstances are not conducive for learning.

Several factors could be driving this recent trend – low birth rates, family migration or choosing to study overseas, to name a few. It does not appear in the short term that this trend will dissipate any time soon, so let’s hit the nail on the head with this issue.

I, for one, am excited when it comes to better classroom management, ambience and holistic learning outcomes. It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in Hong Kong to fully implement small-class teaching, made even more beneficial in an English classroom, where the standards in recent years have not been ideal.

The drop in student-to-teacher ratios means, in theory, students have more time to ask individual questions to address their needs, which was not possible in a class of more than 40 students in the past. This could lead to more students being admitted to higher banding schools. Schools will be able to share students more equally as they can all practise small-class teaching.

This will hopefully foster better learning outcomes and greater academic performance in the long run. Less time can be wasted on trivial things such as classroom management, time-consuming paperwork and clerical obligations. Instead, quality teaching time can be used to nurture our future generations.