Editorial | PE emphasis will boost all-round education in Hong Kong
- There is more to education than just equipping youngsters with the knowledge and skills for good-paying jobs. Having a primary school pupil’s sports performance evaluated alongside academic scores is especially important as fitness can be woefully lacking in today’s lifestyle
Hong Kong’s education system is notoriously rigid, competitive and high-pressure. This is reflected in the public and media attention on the winners and losers in the university entrance examinations, and the secondary school allocation each summer.
The heavy scrutiny of the results somehow reinforces an unhealthy social environment in which success is purely measured by one’s academic performance. This is hardly good for an all-round education.
In what appears to be a positive change, primary school pupils may have their sports performance evaluated alongside academic scores, under a revised grading rubric for allocation to secondary school. Currently, schools internally evaluate their pupils for secondary school allocation with three rounds of exams and submit those scores to the Education Bureau.
Under the proposals, PE may be taken into account for the first time, while Chinese language, English and Mathematics will receive less weighting along with the new subjects of humanities and science.
The internal assessments have long been of great importance as the results affect whether the pupils can be allocated to top-band colleges. The rote-learning approach means pupils are often given drills and exercises in the hope of maintaining the school standards.
Although physical education may only account for a small part in the revised assessment, this is a step in the right direction. Hopefully, schools and parents will devote more time and resources to developing children’s physical well-being.
