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Chinese, other NCS students enter secondary school to
discover that they are sent back to square one.
Chetrit Nipurna KC is one of them. KC, also born and
raised in Hong Kong, is a 21-year-old studying law at City
University of Hong Kong.
KC learned Chinese in primary school. When she left
primary school, her Chinese level was comparable to other
local Primary Six students.
She then continued her study at Delia Memorial School
(Hip Wo). She was placed in her school’s Chinese as a Sec-
ond Language (CSL) curriculum where she studied the
General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Chi-
nese curriculum. GCSE Chinese is equivalent to Primary
Three level in Hong Kong.
KC observes that her class was composed of students
with varying Chinese levels. While some of her classmates
found the curriculum useful, she found it repetitive.
“There were students from other countries who had
never learned Chinese before and those who were relative-
ly weaker in Chinese, so (the GCSE Chinese curriculum)
was beneficial to them. But for me, it wasn’t very benefi-
cial,” she explains.
KC believes her Chinese would be better if she had pro-
gressed instead of going backwards in secondary school.
“I felt like my efforts in primary school were in vain,”
she says. “By adjusting the level in Form One, it made me
think Chinese was easy and demotivated me to learn Chi-
nese.”
Bibi and KC’s experiences stem from the lack of a Sample assessment material of the GCSE Chinese
standardised CSL curriculum. Speaking in Chinese exam.
The Curriculum Development Council of the Edu-
cation Bureau published a Supplementary Guide to the
Chinese Language Curriculum for Non-Chinese Speak- guage curriculum framework “provides schools with flex-
ing Students in 2008. The guide explains the Chinese Lan- ibility and autonomy”. Teachers are advised to adjust the
curriculum and teaching strategies according to the abili-
ties and interests of NCS students.
But the guide is not a standardised CSL curriculum.
I felt like my efforts in According to Hong Kong Unison, a non-government

primary school were in organization advocating for ethnic minority rights, the lack
of concrete objectives means Chinese learning is school-
vain. By adjusting the based. Different schools offer different examinations and
curricula, based on university entrance requirements.
level in Form One, it dergraduate programmes in Hong Kong, accepts six alter-
JUPAS, the main system for students to apply for un-
made me think Chinese native qualifications in Chinese for NCS students, includ-

was easy and demotivat- ing ApL(C) and GCSE. The alternative qualifications vary
greatly in their level of difficulty, resulting in uneven levels
ed me to learn Chinese. of achievement for CSL learners.

Local School’s Struggle
Wong Kai-chi is a Chinese teacher for non-Chinese