Unison calls for Hong Kong government to provide more support to non-Chinese-speaking parents choosing schools
Government urged to end segregation and give better support to non-Chinese-speaking parents
Advocates of ethnic-minority rights have slammed the government for providing little support to non-Chinese-speaking parents when they select schools and minimal back-up for pupils in local Chinese schools who do not speak Cantonese.
A concern group, Unison, criticised the Education Bureau's explanation of de facto racial segregation in schools - that parents intentionally put their children into schools with mostly ethnic-minority pupils. It argued that a lack of information and choice pushed them to these schools.
A study by the NGO found that when parents considered schools, having good teachers ranked higher than a multiracial learning environment.
The survey, carried out between December and April, interviewed 99 ethnic-minority and 143 Chinese parents with children attending classes from K3 to Primary Three.
About 43 per cent of ethnic-minority parents whose children attended schools with a majority of ethnic minorities were unhappy with the racial composition of the schools, where there were few Chinese students.
"Many parents actually want children to get in touch with Chinese pupils and learn the language," Unison research officer Holing Yip Ho-ling said.
Many parents want children to get in touch with Chinese pupils