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Following is a question by the Hon Tang Ka-piu and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (July 9):
Question:
Some people from the ethnic minorities have relayed to me that non-Chinese speaking ethnic minority (EM) students in Hong Kong have encountered great difficulties in learning due to their differences from mainstream local students in terms of cultures, languages and educational needs, coupled with the inadequate educational support provided by the authorities for such students. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of EM students studying in secondary and primary schools and their percentages in the total numbers of students in the 2013/14 school year, with a breakdown of such student numbers by District Council (DC) district and school type, i.e. (i) mainstream public schools, (ii) Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and (iii) special education schools (set out the relevant figures in Annex 1);
(2) of the respective numbers of EM students studying in secondary and primary schools in which English is the main medium of instruction as well as their percentages in the total numbers of students in the 2013/14 school year, with a breakdown of such student numbers by DC district and school type, i.e. (i) mainstream public schools and (ii) Direct Subsidy Scheme schools (set out the relevant figures in Annex 2);
(3) of the number of students who have benefited from the educational support measures provided for EM students by the authorities in the 2013/14 school year, with a breakdown by support measure;
(4) of the respective numbers of EM students with special education needs (SENs) and their percentages in the total numbers of students in the 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 school years, with a breakdown of such student numbers by DC district, school type (i.e. (i) mainstream schools and (ii) special education schools) and type of SENs (i.e. physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment, speech and language impairment, specific learning difficulties, and other impairment) (set out the relevant figures in tables of the same format as Annex 3);
(5) of the names of the secondary and primary schools that currently provide special educational support services for EM students and which of such schools receive recurrent grants for provision of such services, grouped by DC district; the names of the organisations that currently provide special educational support services for EM students, grouped by DC district; the details and the current utilisation situations of such services; whether the Government has any plan to provide tailor-made learning support for EM students with SENs; if it does, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6) as it is learnt that the parents of some EM school girls hope that their daughters can study at girls¡¦ schools, or else they will send their daughters back to their home countries for schooling, whether the authorities have looked into this matter and offered assistance to such school girls?
Reply:
President,
(1) According to the information collected through the annual Student Enrolment Survey, in the 2013/14 school year, there are 7761 and 6953 non-Chinese speaking (NCS) ethnic minority (EM) primary students and secondary students studying in ordinary public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, accounting for 2.8% and 1.9% of the total primary and secondary student population respectively in the schools concerned. The breakdown of NCS EM students by district and the afore-mentioned school type as well as by category of special school are at Annex 4 and Annex 5 respectively.
(2) We are committed to encouraging and supporting NCS students' integration into the community, facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system and mastery of the Chinese language. For NCS students' exposure to and learning of Chinese, it is the earlier the better for their bridging over to mainstream Chinese Language classes. As regards the teaching medium, public sector primary schools generally use Chinese. For junior secondary levels in public sector secondary schools, starting from the 2010/11 school year, there is no longer bifurcation of schools into Chinese-medium and English-medium schools. To ensure students¡¦ learning effectiveness, the choice and number of subjects taught in English may vary between classes within individual schools as well as among schools under the prescribed criteria. On the other hand, schools may also choose to conduct extended learning activities in English (Note) for students learning through Chinese. As for senior secondary levels, schools have due regard to students¡¦ needs, aspirations and capabilities to devise the teaching medium for various senior secondary subjects to facilitate students' articulation to multiple pathways. DSS schools may also design their curriculum as long as it is in line with the requirements of our local curriculum, including the teaching medium. Given the diversified afore-mentioned school-based arrangements and the fact that schools may use Chinese or English in teaching to meet with the different needs of their NCS students, we do not have the number of NCS EM students studying in secondary and primary schools using primarily English in teaching.
(3) For the planning of education support measures, students whose spoken language at home is not Chinese are broadly categorised as NCS students. The education support measures provided by the Education Bureau (EDB) in the 2013/14 school year for NCS students and the number of beneficiaries are at Annex 6.
(4) The number of NCS EM students with special educational needs (SEN) studying in ordinary schools in the 2011/12, 2012/13 and 2013/14 school years is at Annex 7. The number of NCS EM students with SEN studying in special schools is at Annex 5.
(5) All eligible children, irrespective of their ethnicity, physical or intellectual abilities, are entitled to equal opportunities to education. The Government¡¦s prevailing policy is to accommodate the needs of all eligible students, including NCS students with SEN, in the public school sector (including ordinary schools and special schools). Under the Disability Discrimination Ordinance, all schools have the responsibility to admit NCS students with SEN and provide them with appropriate support. We will help NCS students integrate into the local education system as early as possible and enhance their learning effectiveness through different support measures. Moreover, to support schools to cater for their students with SEN (including NCS students), on top of the regular subvention provided for ordinary schools, the EDB has been providing public sector schools with additional resources, professional support and teacher training. In short, NCS students with SEN can benefit from the support measures pertaining to both NCS students and students with SEN.
(6) The 2014 Policy Address has announced a comprehensive package of support measures to step up support for EMs, especially the younger generation and newcomers, to help them integrate into the community. On education, apart from having learning elements on "respect for others", "global understanding" and "gender role" embedded in the school curriculum, we will, starting from the 2014/15 school year, increase the annual additional funding to schools admitting NCS students. One of the objectives of the enhanced funding is to facilitate schools to create an inclusive learning environment so as to foster an environment for accommodating ethnic diversity in school, promoting respect to cultural and religious differences and strengthening communication with NCS parents. We encourage EM students to study in "mainstream" schools, which would help their mastery of the Chinese language and integration into the community.
Note: Extended learning activities in English implemented at junior secondary levels in public sector secondary schools include, among others, the use of the English medium for not more than two non-language subjects.
Ends/Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Issued at HKT 16:30
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