Don’t overlook maths and science, top Hong Kong mathematician warns educators, urging space for children to develop interests
Advocates say less priority on such subjects and fears over job prospects endanger bid to develop city’s technology sector
A renowned Hong Kong mathematician on Monday urged the government to provide more science-related jobs and scholarships, saying that parents should also allow space for their children to discover their interests and potential.
The comments by Professor Mok Ngai-ming come as scientists have warned of fewer local pupils opting for maths and science subjects, a trend they said would endanger the government’s bid to boost the technology sector.
The field of advanced mathematics has been worst hit with the number of day-school candidates taking extended modules for the Diploma of Secondary Education examination dropping to 6,776 last year from 15,438 in 2012, the first year of the examination.
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Critics blamed the reformed education system, which they said prioritised arts subjects, and society’s perception that there were not many job prospects for those pursuing science.
Meeting the media for the first time since being recently elected as a member of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong, Mok expressed hope for more universities to recognise extended maths modules as electives for admission. He cited a worldwide trend in the importance of the subject in other disciplines, and its connection to science.
“There is a need for mathematical knowledge in fields like biology,” he said. “For example, in bio-informatics, you need high-level maths to draw conclusions from data generated by software.”
Mok, who is also the chair of mathematics at the University of Hong Kong, said he noticed a drop in the maths standard of local secondary pupils, with fewer of them taking advanced modules.