Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/2186153/why-hong-kong-stem-push-justified-scientists-are-bigger-asset
Comment/ Letters

Why Hong Kong STEM push is justified: scientists are a bigger asset to society than musicians or athletes

  • The Hong Kong education system has long been condemned for not nurturing talented personnel in fields like music or literature
  • But if society demands tree-climbing skills, why spend resources on swimming lessons?
Primary students at Bishop Hall Jubilee School explore different sciences through experiments and investigations, under a “Junior Scientists” programme in 2017. Photo: Handout.

Our education system in Hong Kong has long been condemned for not nurturing talented personnel in fields like music or literature. It is always said that a fish will forever think it’s stupid if we require it to climb a tree. Yet, a lesser mentioned fact is – if society demands tree-climbing skills, why should we spend resources on swimming lessons?

The purpose of common education is to prepare kids for society, to ensure everyone has the basic knowledge to be the changemakers of the future. It makes perfect sense for our government to tip its bias towards the teaching of STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) or economics, rather than music or sports.

This is not music to everyone’s ears, but people who do well in science or economics have a greater potential to be valuable assets to society compared to musicians or athletes, however talented. It is unfair to the development of our city to equally split limited resources among all the fields kids might be interested in, when the returns are evidently different.

People always compare our education system to that of other cities but neglect the night-and-day differences between Hong Kong and them. Some lawmakers and other voices in Hong Kong have failed to acknowledge the ever-shifting economic structure of the city, demanding unreasonable treatment for the few. The government, while it should answer to every citizen, also needs to have its priorities checked.

The recent abolishing of the 3-3-2-2 entry requirement by some universities for potential STEM students is seen as finally letting fish swim, which is not exactly true. This change happened because the significance of the knowledge-based sector is rapidly increasing and we now demand more of these people in this field of work.

True, our education system is far from perfect. I don’t agree with the necessity for science students to study literature, nor vice versa. However, allocating extra resources to swimming lessons in a tree-climbing society doesn’t really align with the public interest.

Andy Lau, Tsuen Wan