Three in five Hong Kong secondary schools support lowering English and Chinese language requirements for university admission
Current university entrance exam, the DSE, requires a minimum of level three in both languages, but Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools says a less strict approach would improve the diversity of local talent
Three out of five Hong Kong secondary schools support lowering the minimum Chinese and English language requirements for university admissions, a survey has found.
The survey of 125 school principals, conducted by the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools between May and last month, also showed that 85 per cent of respondents “agreed” or “quite agreed” with suggestions to increase the number of publicly funded undergraduate degrees.
The findings were released after Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung, chairman of a task force to review self-financing post-secondary education programmes, said last month the city was facing a shrinking student population.
Because of the shrinking birth rate over the years, only 43,000 secondary school leavers are expected in four years, down from 57,000 in 2016.
“Society needs a diversity of talent, not just people with good languages,” the association’s chairwoman Lee Suet-ying said.