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New immigrants Compulsory education not compulsory for immigrants By Christine Au |
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A survey done by the Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association revealed that 38 percent of children need two months or more to secure a place. At present, the responsibility of finding places is mainly on the children’s parents. The Education Department only assists them. “After the Immigration Department confirms their identification, we try to match them with school vacancies,” said Ms Ng Suk-chun, district education officer in Mong Kok. “We sometimes write recommendation letters to verify that they have had a meeting with us.” Nevertheless, the report mentioned above revealed that less than 30 percent of migrant children get a place with the aid of the Education Department. Forty-two percent and 35 percent of them were helped by parents and relatives, respectively. Ms Irene Ngai, a Form 4 business student who just arrived in Hong Kong from Guangzhou in January, was introduced to Pui Kiu Middle School by a friend of her mother. She said, “Usually, schools recommended by the Education Department are of lower quality.” Welfare organizations play a vital role in the children’s hunting process for schools. Ms Sze Lai-shan, committee organizer of the Society of Community Organization, said, “Parents of these children are often ignorant of the enrolment process. Some of them are even illiterate. “Sometimes, voluntary workers accompany them to visit schools.” Even if migrant children can smoothly get into a school, they still encounter a lot of difficulties. According to Mr. Ip Cho-yan, principal of Pui Kiu Middle School, demoting kids to lower grades is common. “In my school, downgrading is always the last resort,” Mr. Ip said. “I understand the feelings of disappointment and embarrassment provoked, because they have to spend several years more.” According to the report, 71 percent of migrant children face difficulties in learning English. This is easily understood since mainland Chinese children start learning English only when they are in Primary 4. “My academic performance is excellent, except for the results in English,” Ms Sally Lam Wa said. Ms Lam is a Year 1 student in the Department of Systems Engineering at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She graduated from the Heung To Middle School, whose student body is more than 95 percent migrant children. However, Mr. Tsui Fook-keung, principal of Delia Memorial School, said, “In the past, English was used as the medium of instruction. With the compulsory use of the mother-tongue (Cantonese) in teaching, the emphasis on English in the assessment is shifting because the performance in other subjects is not be affected by poor command of English.” Mr. Ip of Pui Kiu Middle School concluded, “What migrant children need is not sympathy or privilege. They desire genuine care and concern.” |
China education
December 1997
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