Badly needed education reform must continue
Regina Ip says city must have a shared vision of a system that supports ‘one country, two systems' principle and gives youngsters the ability to succeed in the 21st century
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government cannot be faulted for not spending enough on education. In 2021-22, the government expenditure on education soared to HK$110.9 billion ($14.28 billion), representing a 26.7 percent increase compared to the HK$87.5 billion spent in 2017-18, and a whopping 146 percent increase compared to the HK$45 billion spent in 1997-98.
With abundant resources available, the education attainment of Hong Kong people increased significantly. The government's 2016 by-census found that from 2006 to 2016, the proportion of the Hong Kong population aged 15 or above who received secondary and higher secondary education rose from 74.6 percent to 80 percent, while the proportion who received a postsecondary education expanded from 23 percent to 32.7 percent during the same 10-year period.
Where higher education is concerned, the Task Force on Self-financing Post-secondary Education found, in its report published in December 2018, that the participation rate in postsecondary education of secondary school leavers reached 70 percent in 2015-16, including 45 percent at the degree level.
Measured in purely quantitative terms, the government deserves ample praise for its support for education. However, the actual outcomes, as reflected by the involvement of large numbers of teachers and students in national security and other criminal offenses in the past two years, tell an utterly disappointing story.
As police statistics indicate, roughly a quarter of the over 10,000 people arrested in connection with the anti-government riots in 2019 were students, some as young as 12. Over 100 teachers were arrested.
Recent events further highlight the deep moral crisis and political confusion in which some Hong Kong students have become entangled. On May 1, five students in Tai Po, aged 14-17, were arrested for burglary of a jewelry store. On May 5, the police arrested four people who attempted to break into a school in Tseung Kwan O. Those arrested include two students of that school. The police found in the homes of two of the suspects materials belonging to a students' group actively involved in promoting Hong Kong independence during the 2019 riots.
The problems with national and moral education were aggravated by the senior secondary school curriculum reform hatched in 2000. Based on a report on "Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong — Lifelong Learning and All-round Development", published by the Education Commission in 2000, the education authorities started to sharply reduce the study of Chinese culture and Chinese history by senior secondary students. The four "core subjects" of the new senior secondary school curriculum — Chinese language, English language, mathematics and liberal studies — implemented in 2009 led to a sharp drop in the number of students who study Chinese history and Chinese literature.
Statistics published by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority show that of the 50,809 students who took the Diploma of Secondary Education Examinations in 2020, only 5,296 had studied Chinese history, and a meager 1,260 had studied Chinese literature. That means, since 2009, our education system has produced large numbers of secondary school students devoid of an in-depth understanding of our national history, and appreciation of the rich cultural heritage of China.
It is hard for young people to identify with our nation when they have so little understanding of how the Chinese civilization has developed over thousands of years, how the Chinese race has thrived despite multiple challenges, and the tremendous efforts the ruling Party has put into modernizing China in the past 100 years.
To make matters worse, the compulsory liberal studies subject, which was taken by 43,839 students in 2020, with its wide ambit and lack of approved textbooks and reference materials for teaching "Modern China" and "Hong Kong Today", has become a vehicle for anti-China textbooks writers and teachers to smear China and to spread disinformation about our constitutional and political systems. Students were brainwashed into developing disaffection, and, in some cases, even antipathy toward our nation, and a false notion of the possibility of Hong Kong becoming an independent political entity. Fake ideas about Western systems were taught, with the result that many students were lulled into believing that human rights and personal liberties are absolute (which they are not, in accordance with the principles laid down in leading international rights covenants), and that the individual has a right to press his or her claims and entitlements in complete disregard of law and order and the welfare of the entire society.
The damaging impact of the new senior secondary school curriculum became so obvious in the wake of the 2019 riots that education authorities had to step into the breach to rectify past errors. In response to the public outcry about the misguided contents of the curriculum, the Education Bureau on March 31 announced measures to "optimize" the teaching of the core subjects. In the case of the Chinese language subject, the test of proficiency in spoken Cantonese would be dispensed with, and the teaching of classical texts and Chinese literature would be strengthened. The liberal studies subject will be renamed "Citizenship and Social Development", and contents streamlined to release time for mainland study opportunity.
Chinese history has been a core subject for junior secondary school, but much effort still needs to be made to make the subject interesting and attractive to young people, and to encourage more senior secondary students to take the subject.
The "streamlining" of the teaching of Chinese language and revamp of the liberal studies subject are steps in the right direction. But success would still be contingent on execution — the provision of textbooks and teaching materials which would cultivate a proper sense of identity with China and appreciation of the important role played by the leadership in modernizing the country, in supporting Hong Kong and in buttressing the global order.
As the classroom is ultimately controlled by teachers, upskilling and reorientation of teachers is paramount. All stakeholders in education must be reunited to support a shared vision of the education system we need for Hong Kong — a "fit for purpose" system that supports and strengthens Hong Kong under the "one country, two systems" principle that will equip the next generation of young people with the skills and capabilities to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Education has a transformative impact on society. Hong Kong must seize this new opportunity for reform to take it to the next level of development.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
Measured in purely quantitative terms, the government deserves ample praise for its support for education. However, the actual outcomes, as reflected by the involvement of large numbers of teachers and students in national security and other criminal offenses in the past two years, tell an utterly disappointing story.
Shortly after Leung Chun-ying was elected chief executive of Hong Kong in March 2012, he launched a large-scale government reorganisation initiative. One of the key features of the plan, announced in May 2012, was the creation of a new “culture bureau”.
The bureau would take over responsibility for cultural development, creative industries and heritage conservation from existing bureaus. It would formulate a school curriculum for arts and culture, and promote the interaction of local cultural talent with their counterparts in mainland China and overseas.
Relentless filibustering by the pan-democrats in the Legislative Council forced Leung to abandon the plan.
Almost 10 years later, in early May, Leung brought back his proposal for a culture bureau. Now that Hong Kong has been designated as a “culture and arts hub for interaction between China and the rest of the world” under China’s 14th five-year plan, resuscitation of the proposal seems justified.
In reality, as lawmaker Ma Fung-kwok, a representative of the sports, performing arts, culture and publication sector, pointed out, given the government’s meagre expenditure on culture and related activities, any new bureau focusing on culture alone would have limited resources at its disposal and inadequate clout to implement its agenda.
Hong Kong would be much better off following the example of mainland China, Britain and South Korea in establishing a broader bureau encompassing responsibility for culture, sport and tourism, heritage and digital industries.
Drawing on the success of the Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in promoting creative industries and exporting the “Korean wave” to the rest of the world, an economic case could be made for a similar bureau to be set up in Hong Kong to promote popular culture and sports-related industries.
Some may be tempted to think that with the strong backing of a culture bureau, Hong Kong could replicate Korea’s success.
This, however, is unlikely. Based on the Hong Kong government’s dismal track record of grooming new industries (as exemplified by the poor economic returns of its investments in the Disney theme park and cruise ship tourism), officials are unlikely to be able to turn the cultural industries identified into a resounding success.
Many factors are at play in inhibiting any efforts by Hong Kong to nurture cultural industries. Officials have no experience of, or penchant for, picking winners.
Cultural exports which succeeded in the past – martial arts fiction by the late famed writer Jin Yong, films made by the Shaw Studio and Hong Kong actor-turned-film-maker Stephen Chow, plus television variety shows and drama series produced by TVB – all thrived by dint of the talent and business savvy of the individuals involved. They created the market for their products, and owed the government little for their success.
Hong Kong has produced other film legends, such as award-winning directors Ann Hui On-wah and Wong Kar-wai. Again their success is attributable more to their talent than government support.
Technological development and the rise of Asian entertainment juggernauts in mainland China and Korea have dynamically changed the business environment for Hong Kong’s filmmaking and television industries. China’s abundant resources – its talent pool, natural scenery and rich cultural heritage – enabled its entertainment giants to make films, television variety shows and drama series which dwarfed local production.
Hong Kong’s artists, screenwriters and directors have moved to mainland China in droves. As a result, film production in Hong Kong has shrivelled.
China’s entertainment houses have copied South Korea’s model of scouting and grooming emerging talent from a young age, signing long contracts and subjecting them to tough training, sometimes even including plastic surgery, before turning them into superstars.
In recent years, China has claimed global success in its period drama series Story of Yanxi Palace, which was the most googled TV series in the world in 2018 – topping The Crown – and the boy love xianxia (supernatural chivalry) drama series The Untamed, which became a huge success in many Asian countries.
There is no way the Hong Kong government or any entertainment enterprise in the city can match such strategies, due to limited resources and a much smaller talent pool and local market. In response to lobbying from the film industry, since 1999, the government has set up a Film Development Fund and injected hundreds of millions of dollars.
The government even went so far as mandating that provision be made for cinema houses in the leases of two designated government land sale sites. Yet, as streaming became increasingly popular and people’s viewing habits changed, the visible hand of the government could do little to halt the irreversible decline of the film industry and cinema chains.
The same story is likely to hold true of sports promotion. Through the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the government has done a good job of supporting elite athletes. Promotion of “sports-related industries” is a totally different proposition. Manufacturing of sports-related products and equipment has moved north, and fitness centre chains have flourished without government help.
The more modest goal of promoting the confluence of Chinese and Western arts and culture in Hong Kong, and sports activities, as tools of tourism promotion, are probably much safer bets for Hong Kong if a new culture, sports and tourism bureau is to be created.
* source: South China Morning Post
Regina Ip says city must have a shared vision of a system that supports ‘one country, two systems' principle and gives youngsters the ability to succeed in the 21st century
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government cannot be faulted for not spending enough on education. In 2021-22, the government expenditure on education soared to HK$110.9 billion ($14.28 billion), representing a 26.7 percent increase compared to the HK$87.5 billion spent in 2017-18, and a whopping 146 percent increase compared to the HK$45 billion spent in 1997-98.
With abundant resources available, the education attainment of Hong Kong people increased significantly. The government's 2016 by-census found that from 2006 to 2016, the proportion of the Hong Kong population aged 15 or above who received secondary and higher secondary education rose from 74.6 percent to 80 percent, while the proportion who received a postsecondary education expanded from 23 percent to 32.7 percent during the same 10-year period.
Where higher education is concerned, the Task Force on Self-financing Post-secondary Education found, in its report published in December 2018, that the participation rate in postsecondary education of secondary school leavers reached 70 percent in 2015-16, including 45 percent at the degree level.
Measured in purely quantitative terms, the government deserves ample praise for its support for education. However, the actual outcomes, as reflected by the involvement of large numbers of teachers and students in national security and other criminal offenses in the past two years, tell an utterly disappointing story.
As police statistics indicate, roughly a quarter of the over 10,000 people arrested in connection with the anti-government riots in 2019 were students, some as young as 12. Over 100 teachers were arrested.
Recent events further highlight the deep moral crisis and political confusion in which some Hong Kong students have become entangled. On May 1, five students in Tai Po, aged 14-17, were arrested for burglary of a jewelry store. On May 5, the police arrested four people who attempted to break into a school in Tseung Kwan O. Those arrested include two students of that school. The police found in the homes of two of the suspects materials belonging to a students' group actively involved in promoting Hong Kong independence during the 2019 riots.
The problems with national and moral education were aggravated by the senior secondary school curriculum reform hatched in 2000. Based on a report on "Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong — Lifelong Learning and All-round Development", published by the Education Commission in 2000, the education authorities started to sharply reduce the study of Chinese culture and Chinese history by senior secondary students. The four "core subjects" of the new senior secondary school curriculum — Chinese language, English language, mathematics and liberal studies — implemented in 2009 led to a sharp drop in the number of students who study Chinese history and Chinese literature.
Statistics published by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority show that of the 50,809 students who took the Diploma of Secondary Education Examinations in 2020, only 5,296 had studied Chinese history, and a meager 1,260 had studied Chinese literature. That means, since 2009, our education system has produced large numbers of secondary school students devoid of an in-depth understanding of our national history, and appreciation of the rich cultural heritage of China.
It is hard for young people to identify with our nation when they have so little understanding of how the Chinese civilization has developed over thousands of years, how the Chinese race has thrived despite multiple challenges, and the tremendous efforts the ruling Party has put into modernizing China in the past 100 years.
To make matters worse, the compulsory liberal studies subject, which was taken by 43,839 students in 2020, with its wide ambit and lack of approved textbooks and reference materials for teaching "Modern China" and "Hong Kong Today", has become a vehicle for anti-China textbooks writers and teachers to smear China and to spread disinformation about our constitutional and political systems. Students were brainwashed into developing disaffection, and, in some cases, even antipathy toward our nation, and a false notion of the possibility of Hong Kong becoming an independent political entity. Fake ideas about Western systems were taught, with the result that many students were lulled into believing that human rights and personal liberties are absolute (which they are not, in accordance with the principles laid down in leading international rights covenants), and that the individual has a right to press his or her claims and entitlements in complete disregard of law and order and the welfare of the entire society.
The damaging impact of the new senior secondary school curriculum became so obvious in the wake of the 2019 riots that education authorities had to step into the breach to rectify past errors. In response to the public outcry about the misguided contents of the curriculum, the Education Bureau on March 31 announced measures to "optimize" the teaching of the core subjects. In the case of the Chinese language subject, the test of proficiency in spoken Cantonese would be dispensed with, and the teaching of classical texts and Chinese literature would be strengthened. The liberal studies subject will be renamed "Citizenship and Social Development", and contents streamlined to release time for mainland study opportunity.
Chinese history has been a core subject for junior secondary school, but much effort still needs to be made to make the subject interesting and attractive to young people, and to encourage more senior secondary students to take the subject.
The "streamlining" of the teaching of Chinese language and revamp of the liberal studies subject are steps in the right direction. But success would still be contingent on execution — the provision of textbooks and teaching materials which would cultivate a proper sense of identity with China and appreciation of the important role played by the leadership in modernizing the country, in supporting Hong Kong and in buttressing the global order.
As the classroom is ultimately controlled by teachers, upskilling and reorientation of teachers is paramount. All stakeholders in education must be reunited to support a shared vision of the education system we need for Hong Kong — a "fit for purpose" system that supports and strengthens Hong Kong under the "one country, two systems" principle that will equip the next generation of young people with the skills and capabilities to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Education has a transformative impact on society. Hong Kong must seize this new opportunity for reform to take it to the next level of development.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
Measured in purely quantitative terms, the government deserves ample praise for its support for education. However, the actual outcomes, as reflected by the involvement of large numbers of teachers and students in national security and other criminal offenses in the past two years, tell an utterly disappointing story.
In Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, “renewed” by the departure of 19 pro-democracy lawmakers following the National People’s Congress Standing Committee’s decision on the removal of Legco members last November, the legislative process has moved forward at a much brisker pace that was undreamed of for years.
The legislature passed a record seven bills, including the budget, in one day on April 28. The committee set up to study over 600 pages of complex amendments to electoral rules completed its task after 37 hours of work spread over 12 meetings.
Before the exit of the pro-democracy legislators, such progress would have been unthinkable. They would have resorted to strong-arm tactics to prevent politically unacceptable legislation from inching forward, as they did in 2019 to obstruct the passage of the fugitive offenders bill. The pan-dems blocked access to the chamber so that meetings could not even be held.
While supporters welcome the sea change as a return to colonial-era civility and efficiency, frontline reporters are quietly disappointed at the lack of drama and high-decibel opposition.
The concerns of the media and other watchdog organisations about the possibility of insufficient checks and balances are understandable, but there is no need to equate all-or-nothing and anti-China defiance with an indispensable counterbalance.
With the legislature dominated by pro-government lawmakers, the electoral reform legislation mandated by the central government is set to be passed at a Legco meeting on May 26, possibly extending over a few days.
The passage of the new laws by the end of May is critical, as what follows is a tightly dovetailed timetable for registration of voters in new constituencies, compilation of voter registers, nomination of candidates for the 1,500-strong Election Committee, the election of this committee on September 19, the election of the seventh, and enlarged, Legislative Council on December 19, and, most important of all, the next chief executive election on March 27, 2022.
The good news is there will be no further deferral of the next round of Legislative Council elections.
Furthermore, with the composition of the new Legco and new Election Committee likely to be heavily loaded with pro-China representatives, fears of the next legislature or the chief executive post being usurped by anti-China elements can be dismissed. The pan-dems’ dream of “regime change” through manipulating the electoral process has been ground to dust.
Under the new national security laws, agitators for such illicit change, akin to insurgents in the United States who wanted to overturn the outcome of lawfully held elections, have either fled or are facing charges which could land them with long custodial sentences.
The hard part follows after the new electoral arrangements have been put in place. The fact is, the Election Committee will be given substantial additional powers. It will not only have the power to nominate and elect the next chief executive, but also the power to nominate and elect 40 members of the new Legislative Council.
Government officials confirmed that each member of the Election Committee could nominate a maximum of five candidates, although significantly fewer people would be entitled to elect these candidates.
That means considerable political power will be concentrated in the hands of a much smaller number of electors, even though many of them will be well-qualified individuals drawn from commerce and industry, academia, the professions and the technology sector.
The strong contingent of pro-China members on the Election Committee will keep the republic’s enemies at bay. But the question is, with so much power concentrated in China’s gatekeepers, will there be meaningful competition in the chief executive election next March?
Hong Kong needs a leader who is not only trusted by Beijing, but also able to navigate the conflicting interests and pressures inherent in the “one country, two systems” formula, as well as win the confidence of Hong Kong people.
The same quandaries apply to Legco in December. Will the new Candidate Eligibility Review Committee, with its heavy emphasis on loyalty and national security, permit candidates from the pro-democracy camp to take part?
The requirement that candidates secure at least two nominations from each of the five sectors represented on the Election Committee is another tall order. Even if candidates are able to overcome both hurdles, will any be willing to take part in the new-style legislative elections?
Would the credibility of the reformed legislature be affected if no dissenting candidates are returned? And if the pan-dems decline to take part in the elections, will they be able to make any meaningful comeback four years on?
Both the framers of the new electoral system in Beijing, as well as their democratic opponents in Hong Kong, face similar difficult choices and dilemmas.
How do you ensure electoral safety without undermining checks and balances, accountability and the credibility of the legislature? How do you ensure seats of power are filled by reliable people of ability and integrity, who will command the respect and trust of the people?
The democratic revolution pushed by the British rulers in their final days aroused some dreams, but the distortion of the democratic movement into a conflict pitting Hong Kong against China has brought the short-lived movement to a traumatic halt.
Looking back, in the light of the rising turmoil as Hong Kong became more democratic, democracy was an experiment which did not work well.
Now the curtain is being raised on another experiment. Many in the nation, and the rest of the world, will be watching, with much foreboding, the outcome of the latest swing of the pendulum.
source of Image: South China Morning Post