LettersHong Kong must learn right lessons from post-colonial education policies elsewhere
- Readers discuss the danger of basing education policy on ideology, religious teaching at school, labour guidelines for bad weather, and why home price bulls should keep calm
The writer’s assertion that religious schools undermine religious freedom is belied by his own disposition. As a self-described beneficiary of Catholic education, he was not brainwashed into a compliant Catholic robot and has freely chosen to be an atheist. Nobody is forced to attend a religious school; the writer has only his parents to blame if he did not enjoy his time at a Catholic school.
Second, the resort to “patriotism” and the condemnation of religious schools as propagating “Western values” are unsupported by evidence. Quite aside from the reality that a good number of pro-establishment politicians have graduated from religious schools, the simplistic characterisation of Christianity as “Western” would surprise most major churches, which these days have more adherents in Africa, Asia and South America than they do in the West.
Similarly, Malaysia’s 1969 decision to abolish English as a medium of instruction in schools helped consign the nation to economic backwater status, with English-speaking Singapore next door showcasing the benefits of basing education policy on individual choice and pragmatism rather than nationalistic ideology.