JUNE 2010
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FOR PARENTS, EDUCATORS & STUDENTS
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EDUCATION UPDATE
15
East Meets West: Hong Kong Executes Bold Education Reform By EMILY SHERWOOD, Ph.D. Stating that “we have become a culture of reform,” Hong Kong’s Permanent Secretary for Education, Mr. Raymond Wong, discussed Hong Kong’s bold New Academic Structure, which has been widely touted as the beginning of a new era of education for this cosmopolitan city, a global financial center that is known for its blend of Chinese and Western cultures. The system is more aligned with major systems of the world, including the American model of academic instruction. Students will pursue three years of junior high school (junior secondary), three years of high school (senior secondary) and four years of university study. This will facilitate smoother articulation to further studies abroad and easier international
student exchange. Secondary-school students will be required to learn four core subjects — Chinese, mathematics, English, and liberal studies — while choosing two to three electives that include sciences, history, geography, and foreign languages. Infused throughout the secondary-school curriculum is a greater focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills as opposed to rote learning drills. “We have changed the way students learn,” explained Mr. Wong when Education Update interviewed him and his Education Bureau colleagues in the graciously appointed Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office situated in a high-ceilinged brownstone in Midtown Manhattan. “We need to meet the challenge of the 21st century. We live in a more
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globalized world. Knowledge changes fast. We want to produce students with a more broadbased knowledge of the world around them.” He added that the workforce must be significantly strengthened because “employers want graduates to have better problem-solving, communication, and critical-thinking skills.” Following senior secondary school, students will sit for one single public examination (scaled back from two, requiring “less time on test preparation”) in order to obtain their Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education, a prerequisite for university acceptance. But they will also have a qualitative student assessment that will encompass the breadth of their achievement, including such factors as art appreciation, community service or work-related experiences.
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Mr. Raymond Wong, Secretary for Education, Hong Kong