Hong Kong parents condemn education minister over primary school exam controversy
More than 47,000 parents accuse Education Bureau of “not being sincere” in solving problems over citywide exam for pupils
A group of parents have placed a full-page advertisement in a newspaper condemning the education minister for causing a rift between parents and schools over a controversial citywide assessment for pupils.
The open letter, placed in the front section of Apple Daily today, said the Education Bureau was not sincere in solving the root problem of the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA).
The bureau issued a notice to all schools last Friday, calling for them to stop drillings and handing out extra class exercises.
READ MORE: ‘Give our kids a happy childhood’: 40,000 parents and teachers renew call to scrap ‘tormenting’ Hong Kong primary school exam
“That is only shifting the blame to schools and destroying the trust between parents and schools,” a representative of an online campaign supported by 47,000 parents wrote.
Two primary school principal associations said the authority’s notice to schools was a top-down gesture that ignored the professionalism of school heads and teachers.
Raymond Lai Tsz-man, chairman of the Subsidised Primary School Council, said the suggestions in the bureau’s letter were shocking as education officials had not mentioned them during a committee meeting last Thursday.
READ MORE: Parents who spend hours preparing children for Hong Kong TSA exams have ‘herd mentality’, education expert says
Representatives of the two groups will meet education officials today to discuss the notice and TSA related matters.
