Like Tree32Likes

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

Closed Thread
Page 4 of 5 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 5 LastLast
  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by drumbrake:
    But there is a significant number of locally educated people who do speak an expert level of English, and many more who speak it at a competent level. So, the teaching of English in Hong Kong cannot be a total failure.
    English education in Hong Kong is fine. Their latest curriculum called Spacetown is excellent for young learners.

    https://www.hkedcity.net/etv/en/resource/7308243604

  2. #32

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    7,517
    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    English education in Hong Kong is fine. Their latest curriculum called Spacetown is excellent for young learners.

    https://www.hkedcity.net/etv/en/resource/7308243604
    I wouldn't go as far as to say it is fine. Yes, there are success stories, but at the same time many local kids leave secondary school and can barely string a sentence together in English. It's complex issue, and the education system is just one part of it.

    However, I do believe that the better a kid is at languages - and in Hong Kong that means being good at English, Cantonese and Putonghua - the more likely that they will do well in education, and will get to have a good career.

  3. #33

    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    4,188
    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    You are way off base, most of the kids in HK international schools apply to universities outside of HK, not all of them go but the majority do end up going overseas.
    If they stay in the international system yes I imagine they do end up going overseas for university. But they are not choosing French International School to study in France or German Swiss to study in Germany. They are choosing "international school education" as a concept and the hope to go overseas to wherever, more likely Canada/UK/US/Australia. There is not a strong allegiance to the country that the school is affiliated in many cases.



    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    For your information, IB is NOT a curriculum, there no exams or prescribed content for most of it. The DP in the last two years of it concludes with standardized exams which are recognized in universities around the world making it easier for kids to go straight into those without the need for additional language exams.
    You're being pedantic. My point is, offering IB PYP/MYP/DP does not mean a school is an international school. You can offer a local curriculum of the country you're in and have 100% local students of that country and still offer IB.

    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    HK kids that attend international schools no more or no less want to escape the system than those in Bangkok or KL. A lot of it is about the reputation of the schools, if parents can get their kids in DBS or DGS, they'll often leave those international schools. The same goes for university, if they get in med school at HKU, they might stay, if not, they'll go to the next best option.
    From my experience with local families attending my child's international school, they all want to get out of the local system and none of them want to go to DBS/DGS. They don't like the teaching methods and they don't like the pressure and competition. The way schools are in HK you can't just change midstream anyway - if you want your child in DBS then you need to choose the "right" private local kindergarten, so those parents certainly are not the ones I meet who are attending international kindergartens. Not sure which types of families you are speaking about.

  4. #34

    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    1,492

    HK just like any other country provides choices for parents. Some are quite happy to stay in local schools and see international schools as too soft and liberal others prefer other ways. What western country forces kids to go to their state school? Just because they brand themselves as international doesn't make any difference, they are private schools for those with money. Why should HK be any different? You want them to be an autocratic country and remove choices from their citizen in order to accommodate expats? Seriously? Or you think that schools should shoot themselves in the foot, stunt their growth, turn away some of their best students in order to accommodate a select few?

    You seem to be a perfect example of the type of expat that goes to a different country and want them to change to accommodate you needs. Sorry, the world doesn't work that way.


  5. #35

    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Posts
    4,188

    @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.


  6. #36

    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Kowloon
    Posts
    296
    Quote Originally Posted by Golem:
    What western country forces kids to go to their state school?
    Finland. The country with the world's best education system.
    jgl, Skyhook, Gatts and 1 others like this.

  7. #37

    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Kowloon
    Posts
    296
    Quote Originally Posted by civil_servant:
    English education in Hong Kong is fine. Their latest curriculum called Spacetown is excellent for young learners.

    https://www.hkedcity.net/etv/en/resource/7308243604
    The problem isn't the curriculum. It's whether or not it actually gets delivered in that way, or whether it's just a couple of teachers (including the NET) teaching like that, while everyone else is stuck on rote learning.

  8. #38

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Posts
    11,884
    Quote Originally Posted by MerMer:
    Finland. The country with the world's best education system.
    Is this where the phrase 'mic drop' would be appropriate?
    MerMer and Gatts like this.

  9. #39
    Quote Originally Posted by MerMer:
    Finland. The country with the world's best education system.
    Sorry to burst your bubble.

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

    Even Canada kills Finland.

  10. #40

    Join Date
    Jan 2018
    Posts
    1,492
    Quote Originally Posted by merchantms:
    @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.