JUNE 1989
HONG KONG: THE FACTS
EDUCATION
About 26 per cent of Hong Kong's population is at school or kindergarten and in 1988-89 the govern- ment spent 18 per cent of its estimated expenditure, or $11,260 million, on education.
There is nine years' free and compulsory education up to the age of 15, and in 1989, the government expects to be able to provide subsidised Secondary IV places for about 70 per cent of the 15-year-olds in a continuing programme.
With both the Chinese and English languages in common use in Hong Kong, bilingualism is being promoted in schools.
A small group of English schools offers education to English-speaking children. There are also schools run on the American, the French and the German patterns. These schools are open to children of all races. In addition, a few schools have been established by the Norwegian, Japanese and Indonesian com- munities for children of these nationalities.
There are three main types of schools: those wholly operated by the government, those run by voluntary bodies which receive financial assistance from the government, and private independent schools which receive no direct assistance from the government.
Kindergarten Primary
Secondary Total
Day School Enrolment
214 703 535 037 442 040
1 191 780
and
Kindergartens: Voluntary organisations private bodies provide education for children in the 3-5 age group. These kindergartens are registered with the Education Department and supervised by the department.
The government gives assistance in the forms of reimbursement of rates and rent to non-profit-making kindergartens; allocation of kindergarten premises in public housing estates; fee subsidy to needy parents; and providing in-service teacher training facilities.
Primary Education: Primary schooling starts at the age of six. Most primary schools operate in two sessions. In 1971, free and compulsory primary education was introduced in all government primary schools and in the majority of aided primary schools. The aim of the six-year primary course is to provide a good general education appropriate to the age range and particular environment of the children. Chinese is the language of instruction in most primary schools with English taught as a second language. There are nine junior schools operated by English Schools Foundation and 14 private international schools which cater for children whose first language is English. A new Primary 1 Admission System was introduced in 1983 to monitor admission to Primary 1 in government and aided primary schools.
No. of Day Schools
Government and
608
Enrolment 483 232
government-aided
Private
81
689
51 805 535 037
Total
School enrolment for the 6-11 age group approa- ches 100 per cent.
Secondary Education: On completion of the primary course, pupils are allocated places in government, government-aided and private second- ary schools. The allocation system, known as the Secondary School Places Allocation System, is based on internal school assessment, scaled by a centrally administered Academic Aptitude Test, parental choice and the division of the territory into 19 school nets.
Junior secondary education (Secondary_1-3), which became compulsory in September 1979, has been free since September 1978.
A centralised system of selection and allocation for subsidised school places for senior secondary education (Secondary 4-5), known as the Junior Secondary Education Assessment (JSEA) System, was first introduced in 1981 and was enhanced in 1988 by adopting the Mean Eligibility Allocation Method which relieves all students from taking any public scaling test. The performance of students in the school internal assessments and parental choice form the basis for selection and allocation of Secondary 3 students to subsidised Secondary 4 places. Students may also choose to continue their studies in post- Secondary 3 craft courses offered by technical institutes and industry training centres.
There are three main types of secondary schools in Hong Kong-grammar, technical and prevocational.
Both grammar and technical schools offer a five- year course in a broad range of Academic subjects leading to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE). Prevocational schools, which are fully subsidised by the government, provide a three-year course (Secondary 1-3) made up of 60 per cent general education and 40 per cent technical education. They also provide a proportion of senior secondary classes (Secondary 4-5) made up of 70 per cent general education and 30 per cent technical education for those academically more capable students to continue their education up to HKCEE level and later to proceed directly to technical programmes in the Polytechnics or the technical institutes.
HKCEE candidates may enter a two-year sixth form course to prepare for the Advanced Level Examination of the Hong Kong Examinations Authority or for the United Kingdom General Certificate of Education of both ordinary and advanced levels. A one-year course may be taken to prepare students for admission to the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Uniform tuition fees are charged for Secondary 4 to 6 in government and aided secondary schools.