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Non-Mainstream Education

Adult education

Adult education is popular, since it give middle-aged adults a chance to obtain a tertiary degree. The concept was not common several decades ago. The EMB has commissioned two non-profit school operators to provide evening courses. Both operators have set up fee remission schemes to help the adult learners in need of financial assistance. Adult education courses also provide Vocational Training Council through various universities and private institutions. The Open University of Hong Kong is one establishment for mature students.

Education for newly-arrived-children (NAC)

The EMB provides education services for newly arrived children, which includes children from the Mainland, non-Chinese speaking children and returnees. Free "Induction Programmes" of up to 60 hours have been offered to NAC by non-government organisations. The EMB also provides a 6 month full-time "Initiation Programme" incorporating both academic and non-academic support services, for NAC before they are formally placed into mainstream schools. Hei-Hang Hayes Tang (2002) provided a good sociology of education thesis on the NACs" adaptation and school performance

Standings

In the OECD"s international assessment of student performance, Hong Kong was ranked one of the highest scorers in 2003. 15-year-olds from Hong Kong came first in mathematics, and third in science, worldwide.

Criticism

With the advent of education reform there is a greater emphasis on group projects, open-ended assignments on top of traditional homework. The current workload of a primary student in Hong Kong includes approximately 3 to 4 hours of schoolwork nightly. Along with extracurricular activities, Hong Kong"s education has become synonymous for leaning toward quantity. As early as March 1987, education advisory inspectors became concerned with the excessive amounts of "mechanical work and meaningless homework". In particular, history education has been recognized as ineffective, with the curriculum not capable of delivering a sense of identity.

Some have criticized the system for having too narrow of a stream focus, too early on. Alan Leong of the Hong Kong Legislative Council pointed out in a guest lecture to CUHK students that science stream education at secondary level, are incapable of participating in meaningful discussions on history, arts, or literature. Vice versa journalists of Arts stream background are incapable of accurately discussing technological issues. The narrow focus has been a concern.

Future

At the time of writing March 2007, a new Senior Secondary School curriculum has been promulgated. Secondary education will move away from the English model of five years secondary schooling plus two years of university matriculation to the Chinese model of three years of junior secondary plus another three years of senior secondary, with the Form 1 intake in the 2007-08 academic year the first crop to graduate under the new system[citation needed]. Streaming of classes according to subjects offered will be abolished, and the two public exams HKCEE and HKALE will be merged into one public exam, called the Hong Kong Diploma in Secondary Education, sat at the end of the Senior Secondary 3 (Form 6 under the existing system), and expanding school based assessment[citation needed]. University education will extend from three years to four.

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