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A STUDY OF THE OBJECTIVES OF CHURCH INVOLVEMENT IN EDUCATION AS PERCEIVED BY THE VARIOUS PROTESTANT DENOMINATIONS IN HONG KONG.*
NG TZE MING, PETER
For a long time, Christianity (including Roman Catholics and Protestants) has been actively involved and been exerting very profound influence on school education in Hong Kong. According to the survey in 1986, there are 424 secondary schools in Hong Kong. Among them, 203 are church schools, which make up 48% of the total number of secondary schools. As for primary schools, out of the total of 737 schools, 254 are run by the church, which approximates to 35% of the primary sector.' A mere 10% of the Christian population therefore 'controls' more than 40% of the educational resources in secondary and primary schools in Hong Kong. What then are the objectives and ideals of church involvement in education? What significant effects are being brought about in such a massive involvement in education today? These are important questions not to be neglected by educators as well as those who are concerned with school education in Hong Kong.
The present study aims at revealing among the various Christian (Protestant) denominations their different views on the objectives and ideals of church involvement in education today. It is hoped that such a study would stimulate greater interest and dialogue among educators in Hong Kong, whether they are members of any religious groups or not. The present study is limited to Christian (Protestant) organizations involved in school education. As for the involvement by the Roman Catholics or other religious groups such as Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian, and Islamic, these are yet to be investigated on a larger scale by other interested scholars.
Content and Methodology
The study consists of two parts. The first part is a questionnaire survey held in April-May, 1987. Questionnaires were sent to the supervisors, principals, and Religious Education panel chairmen (or