"Primary Education | AboutHK.Com - more information about HK"

Primary education in Hong Kong

covers a wide curriculum.

Core subjects include Chinese, English, and Mathematics with broad emphasis on Music, Physical Education and Arts. Formerly there were 3 knowledge-oriented subjects: Social Studies, Health Education, and Science. In the 1996-1997 academic year the Education Department amalgamated these subjects into the new subject of General Studies. Depending on the religious background of the school, Religious Education or Bible Studies could be incorporated. The teaching medium in most of the local primary schools is Chinese with English as a second language. After the transfer of the sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, only a handful of primary schools and secondary schools are able to keep English as the medium of instruction under new government policies. Those schools are generally referred to as English as Medium of Instruction schools (EMI).