Just 24 teachers in four years finish course and collect Education Bureau grant to improve their skills teaching Chinese as a second language in Hong Kong, watchdog finds
- Government watchdog criticises bureau for not doing enough to push schools and teachers to participate in these services
- Grant scheme launched in 2014-15 school year to improve capabilities of serving teachers to teach language to non-Chinese pupils
Just two dozen teachers in Hong Kong have completed and received reimbursements for training programmes to improve their skills teaching Chinese as a second language despite demand from about 80 schools, the government watchdog has found.
The Office of the Ombudsman criticised the Education Bureau for not doing enough to push schools and teachers to participate in these services and suggested it review its support measures to help more non-Chinese-speaking pupils integrate.
This was among a raft of recommendations the watchdog floated as part of a direct investigation – that is, a self-initiated probe – published on Tuesday to examine inadequacies in government support for non-Chinese-speaking pupils in learning the language and creating inclusive learning environments.
“The government has in recent years introduced measures to enhance the support for non-Chinese-speaking students,” the watchdog’s report read. “Nevertheless, there have been criticisms from time to time that the bureau has not provided adequate support to cater for [their] needs.”
A professional enhancement grant scheme was launched in the 2014-15 school year to improve the capabilities of serving Chinese subject teachers to teach the language to non-Chinese students in primary and secondary schools by subsidising recognised courses at universities.
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While 68 teachers had been approved a grant since 2014, the watchdog pointed out that “merely” 24 – an average of six per year – had completed programmes and received reimbursements despite 79 primary and secondary schools now receiving support for such education.
“The Education Bureau should step up its efforts,” it added.
The Ombudsman also echoed long-standing criticisms of the bureau’s additional funding mechanism for public and subsidised primary and secondary schools.
Currently, schools that offer the local curriculum and admit 10 or more non-Chinese pupils are granted additional funding of HK$800,000 (US$102,560) to HK$1.5 million per year, but those admitting nine or fewer are only eligible for HK$50,000.
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“The difference of only one student can mean a difference of 16 times [extra funding],” the watchdog noted.
Also highlighted were difficulties non-Chinese parents faced applying for schools – forms, links, headings and circulars on kindergarten websites were often written in Chinese only.
A misleading statement in Primary One application forms claiming that schools on an annexed list “traditionally admitted more NCS [non-Chinese-speaking] students” also gave an inaccurate picture to parents – some not on the list admitted more of these pupils than those listed. The list has not been revised for years.
“Its report highlights again the huge information gap. Parents just don’t know how to choose,” she said
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Cheung agreed that those qualified to teach non-Chinese students the language were few and far between and that there should be a mandated percentage of how many teachers should be trained in the specific area, similar to that of special education needs.
“The problems faced by non-Chinese students are not only limited to Chinese language,” she said.
In 2016, there were 52,129 ethnic minority students studying full-time in Hong Kong – mainly at secondary school level or below – and generally did not speak Cantonese or Mandarin as their mother tongue.
“We hope the [bureau] will continue to improve the learning of Chinese for non-Chinese students, particularly ethnic minority students,” Cheung added.
“Hopefully, they can be immersed in or transition into mainstream Chinese education and receive the same kind of opportunities in higher education and employment.”
The bureau said it welcomed the watchdog’s recommendations and would “review the implementation of existing support measures and refine them as appropriate”.
Meanwhile, a separate direct investigation report, also published on Tuesday, on the Lands Department’s hasty decision to remove two century-old banyan trees on Bonham Road last year found its actions “not unreasonable” but urged it to step up transparency in its decision-making.
