Culture shock: the upside-down world of white families navigating Hong Kong’s local school system

[Golem]

@Golem first of all calm down.

If a Chinese moves to New York City right now, the state funded public schools will educate the child and make every effort to produce a fluently English speaking person by the time they finish high school. The same is not true in Hong Kong. If every Chinese immigrant to the US, UK etc had to go into a Chinese international private school that cost USD 10K+ a year, or else they'd be put into the worst segregated schools where the kids are barely taught English and assumed to be lost causes - don't you think that would limit the number and types of Chinese who would end up there?

I can afford international school so for my family it's not an issue. I have friends however who can not, they have come here to teach Chinese children English or to work in other sectors like hospitality etc., they do work that is demanded in this city but the city doesn't accomodate their children at all. The local schools don't want foreign children and don't care to educate them properly, that is the problem.

If a chinese goes to NY, he has to study in English, he won't have the option to study in chinese. He has to adapt to the place he's going to... Granted, he will have more support than he would have in a HK school. I won't disagree that local schools don't put a lot of effort in integrating outsiders into the local system. It's a fair point and they should do better. HK is not a caring or welcoming society for immigrants. They cater for the rich, another legacy from the colonial overlord.

That is an entirely different point than the quality of the education and the deranged claim that HK students shouldn't have access to international schools to leave space for expats. Virtually all countries provide that choice and HK is no different. The lack of support to foreigners in local schools has absolutely nothing to do with where the elite attend school.

[Golem]

Finland. The country with the world's best education system.

Whoopteedoo, you found one, now shall we start listing the countries that allow for choices and run private schools? Why isn't everyone copying Finland? If no one is copying them, why should HK (a massively conservative place that abhors change) copy them?

[MerMer]

Sorry to burst your bubble.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-32302374

Even Canada kills Finland.

"Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's director of education and the creator of the Pisa tests, rejects this analysis.

"In the 1960s, Finland was an average performer at best and that was when it had a very traditional education system," says Mr Schleicher.

"Finland changed its system only in the late 1970s and 1980s and that's when we saw the results rise. The most recent decline is quite modest," he said."

Canada kills Finland in what?
By the way, do you know what these tests are, how they are made, their strengths and drawbacks, or are you just looking at numbers? Do you really think that somewhere like Hong Kong would have a superior education system if their results were higher than countries like Finland? Is passing a flawed exam the sole measure of a successful education system?