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A Review of Current Education Policies
in Hong Kong

Chow Ping-yan, Alan

香港教育政策的擬訂及執行，長久以來都是由政府主導、學校執行。從行政的角度來說，這是追求效率的一個做法；但從另一個角度來看，政策制訂的過程却忽略了基層﹝或可說是學校層面﹞的參與，甚至一俟政策制成，便匆匆按既定的時間表推出，導致政策的執行遇上不少的障礙，罔顧政策執行結果的質素和實際執行的效能。本文就上述問題作了一個綜合分析，並引用英國一些教育改革運動的經驗，與香港現行教育政策推行的成效作出比較，從而對如何有效執行教育改革提出一些啟示。

Like other developed countries in the world, Hong Kong has undergone a huge amount of education reforms since the last decade in response to the public's concern about the quality of school education. Mr. Tung Chee-hwa, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, presented his main ideas on education policies in October 1998. He said: "To take Hong Kong forward in an increasingly competitive world we must give education top priority.We must also redouble our efforts to improve the quality of teaching in our schools" (Tung, 1998: 30-32).
    To keep pace with social and economic developments in Hong Kong, education policies have to be periodically reviewed so that necessary modifications can be made (The Board of Education, 1997). Based on the above principle, the Board of Education set up a Sub-committee on Review of School Education to conduct an in-depth review on the existing 9-year free and compulsory education.
    In the report, four areas of concern are identified. They are:

  • Existence of wide individual differences in the same class;
  • Effectiveness of learning in the classroom;
  • Pupils with learning or behavioural problems;
  • Undesirable washback effects of the Academic Aptitude Test.


    (The Board of Education, 1997:29-90)
    In my view, all the areas mentioned above are worth studying. They are crucial to the improvement of education in the school system. Education policies used to be initiated and decided by Government. However, as Wittaker (1993) has commented, changes in educational practice tend to come from practitioners themselves rather than through regulation. In other words, the effectiveness of changes derives from the efforts of practitioners rather than from legislation or regulations.

Hong Kong's education reforms
    If we examine education reforms in recent years, we see that most of them are based on western theories, concepts and ideas, such as the Target Oriented Curriculum initiative (TOC), the Activity Approach (AA) of teaching and learning in primary schools and the School-Based Management initiative (SBM), etc.
    Take TOC as an example. The concept of "Targets and Target-Related Assessment (TTRA)" which was renamed "Target Oriented Curriculum (TOC)"in 8 July 1993, drew on experience gained in curriculum and assessment in countries outside Hong Kong. The original framework embodied a number of the essential elements (namely, key stages; subject domains and levels of attainment; attainment targets; and assessment) required to respond to Hong Kong's needs (Clark, 1990 & 1993; Education Commission, 1990).
    However, the implementation of TOC attracted great criticism from practitioners in the field. The Sheng Kung Hui Primary School Council has repeatedly expressed its reservation towards the new initiative. Academics from the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong also expressed worries about the practicality of TOC. There were concerns that the implementation schedule was too hasty, the curriculum framework and means of assessment were too complex, resources were inadequate, teachers were not well prepared, and that parents and the community needed to be better informed, etc. Worse still, some academics even criticized that the TOC policy had not been field-tested and rationally grounded. Thus, its suitability to bring about the desired ends was considered doubtful (Centre of Research & International Collaboration 1998).
    The AA initiative in Hong Kong primary schools has a history of about thirty years. With reference to the newest figure released by the Education Department (𡌃nrolment Statistics 1997", the proportion of primary schools adopting the approach is only 60% (36 government schools, 293 aided schools, and 38 private schools) while there are still 40% (9 government, 185 aided and 44 private) of primary schools using the traditional teaching approach. What is the reason for this " Is it because of reluctance among school authorities or the teachers"resistance to the concept"
    School-Based Management has been regarded as the centrepiece of the current worldwide reforms aiming to enhance quality of education since the 1980's (Caldwell & Spinks, 1992; Reynolds, et al, 1994; Gamage, 1996; Cheng, 1996a & 1996b, etc.). In Hong Kong, to respond to the international trend of SBM and to enhance quality culture, flexibility, transparency and accountability, the policy-makers introduced "The School Management Initiative (SMI)" to Hong Kong schools in 1991. After seven years of experience, there are now altogether 148 secondary schools (i.e. 43%) and 199 primary schools (i.e. 23.3%) practising SMI. The data show that the majority of the schools still have reservations towards practising SMI. Schools even claim that they are superficially implementing what is so-called SBM. Why is there this huge gap between the policy reformers and those that actually implement the change?
    In some situations, policies were initiated due to the good will of Government leaders and policy-makers. Examples include: the implementation of information technology (IT) in classroom teaching, the medium of instruction (MOI) and language benchmark issues, the integration of General Studies (GS) in the primary curriculum, the new language policy of Putonghua, the provision of graduate teaching posts in primary schools, and the operation mode of Whole-Day Schooling (WDS), etc.
    In the IT initiative, schools were suddenly equipped with hundreds of computers. This sudden increase threatened the school principals and teachers even if they might perceive that the provision of new technology in classroom teaching was valuable. They are not yet ready to make use of the new resources.
    A booklet on "Medium of Instruction Guidance for Secondary Schools"was issued to all public sector secondary schools in September 1997. Most schools were told to adopt the use of Chinese for teaching all academic subjects, starting with their 1998-99 Secondary 1 intake and progressing each year to a higher level of secondary education. Schools intending to use, or continuing using, English as the medium of instruction starting with their 1998-99 and future Secondary 1 intakes had to demonstrate to the Education Department (ED) that they could satisfy the requirements necessary for the effective use of English as a teaching medium (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, 1997). The announcement of this policy led to a great debate within the education sector and protests were received from several schools. As a consequence, ED had to review the exercise, coming up with a final list of 114 English medium secondary schools.
    Language Benchmarks were designed to provide a level of quality assurance in the use of language
among teachers. But teachers were scared by the language benchmark tests that might put pressure on them. The promotion of Putonghua can be regarded on the one hand as a response to the return of sovereignty to China and on the other as a language development opportunity for the next generation of Hong Kong and the restoration of Chinese culture. The issue did not threaten teachers because it only affected one period in the timetable per week.
    The integration of three primary school subjects, namely Social Studies, Science and Health Education into one new subject "General Studies"was launched in September 1996. This curriculum change aimed to link relevant knowledge within the three subjects and help students to learn more systematically, making it more efficient and effective. However, the change did not take into account the expertise of teachers. A lot of teachers had been teaching one of the three subjects for years. Some of them might be experts in Social Studies, but they are not competent to teach Primary Science, and vice versa. Thus teaching quality in General Studies has become questionable.
    The intention of providing graduate teaching posts in primary schools is well accepted by most primary heads and teachers because it indicates that Government wishes to give a sense of recognition to their qualifications. However, the salary structures proposed by the Government and the number of graduate posts granted per year have been greatly criticized.
    Bisessional Schooling has been established as a temporary policy for providing sufficient accommodation for children in their primary education for more than forty-four years. Although no one will deny the benefits of Whole Day Schooling progress towards this has been very slow.
    Policy-makers as well as Government may have very good intentions to bring about change or improvement in the school system. They want to upgrade the standard of schooling. They want to create opportunities for schools to innovate. They want to bring about quality education. But unfortunately, most of the initiatives fail to achieve their goals. It is commonly found that many initiatives do not meet their planned targets.
    Why don't they meet their targets? Why are there so many problems? Is the design of the initiatives inappropriate? Is the planning not detailed enough? Is it the implementation stage that has gone wrong? Or, is it because there are obstacles in people's mind that they are reluctant to drive away?

How can reforms succeed   
    With reference to the "How Schools Improve (HIS)"project report written by Dalin, et al (1994), the following factors can be seen to play a significant role `linking"national reform policies with local implementation. They have significant implications on how Hong Kong's education policies can be better implemented:
1.Assistance, in terms of in-service training, is a very strong linkage factor in the project. Through on-going and intensive local in-service training that reaches all teachers, policies can be explained, intentions clarified, technical matters understood and new skills exercised. In Hong Kong, for TOC, SMI, AA, WDS and other initiatives, briefing seminars and short training programmes have been provided. But the quality of those is doubtful. Without well-planned support, new policies are doomed to fail.

2.Commitment, in terms of transmitting enthusiasm and motivation from central leaders to local leaders and school people, works through personal contacts. In Hong Kong, policies, even the positive ones, fail to reach teachers in the front line. Why? It may be due to the fact that officials have different views towards the same initiative. Take TOC as an example. The initiative trainers for the programme were not supportive of the initiative and provide a negative view of policy. At school level, different school leaders had different interpretations and views about the new policy and what teachers perceived in the end could be different again.

3.There is a need for supervision and support for the new initiative. Whenever a new policy is implemented, the Government lacks the manpower to do the necessary training and supportive work. A successful change should be well managed, planned, designed, coordinated, monitored and evaluated. During the past few years, Hong Kong has undergone a lot of educational reforms. The huge workload created by effect those reforms among Education Department officials and schools may lead a negative on their quality.

4. Pressure, in terms of supervision and control. Pressure can be positive and it can be negative. Whether it becomes positive or not depends on how people manage their work under stress. Hong Kong has undergone a huge amount of educational reform. The reforms have caused pressure on everyone.
    Educational reforms derive from two sources: internal and external. The reforms that we have discussed above are mainly based on externally imposed changes. Where Government manages the change process well, positive effects can be expected. But when change is badly managed, it leads to turbulence and tension in schools.
    As Fullan (1992) notes, there are three phases of change we have to pay attention to. They are: the initiation, implementation and institutionalization stages. Planning and action stages are comparatively easier to handle, because they can be done with Government's commitment and enthusiasm. However, the institutionalization stage is concerned with cultural change within the school and this is a long-term school improvement process.
    Referring to the education policies of Hong Kong in the past decades, we agree that the government has tapped certain valuable experiences from other countries. Some may be adequate for adaptation, but not for direct transplantation. Some need more thinking or modification before they can be adopted.
    A project known as 'Improving the quality of education for all"has been implemented in the United Kingdom for six years. Based on the experience gained in the project, the following characteristics of effective school improvement initiatives might have implications for Hong Kong's education reforms:

  • All have focused on specific student-learning goals. None had only goals of the "to make exam results go up"variety.
  • All have employed strategies tailored to their goals and backed by rationales grounded in theories, research, good practices or experiences.
  • All have employed substantial amounts of school and classroom-based staff development.
  • All have measured learning outcomes on an on-going basis, by regularly collecting information about student progress.
  • All have involved collaboration / team approach.



Concluding Remarks
    As a conclusion, if policies can be practised and are to be welcomed by school level, the government of Hong Kong should bear in mind the following:
1. Clarity
    New knowledge must be comprehensive and clear to the audience. Make the policy known to every participant.
2. Relevance
    The new initiative should be meaningful for everyday school life. The rationale is grounded in theory, research and good practice and is relevant to the Hong Kong school education system.
3. Workable
    The reform should be practicable. School heads and teachers, as well as other education practitioners, must know what to do and how to do it.
4. Will
    There must be a motivation, an interest and a will to

do something with new knowledge. How to promote an externally imposed change and turn it into an institutionalized change at school level is the government's concern. It will be best to give schools the necessary autonomy, support and encouragement, in terms of physical, economic, resource and human concerns, so that the schools will feel comfortable to carry out their school-based reforms in a way which best suits their needs.
5. Skills
    All individual school heads and teachers must have the necessary skills to implement new practices. It is the government's responsibility to provide adequate preparation or training programmes, including initial and in-service ones, for the practitioners, so that uncertainties can be avoided during the implementation stage.
    If education policies are to be respected by both policy-makers and practitioners, the above features have to be carefully considered before they are put forward to be initiated. Moreover, schools should be given freedom to decide whether they wish to participate in a new initiative or to conduct change according to their own schedule, or have other options so long as their school performance is accountable to their students, teachers, parents, school boards and the community as well as the society.

References:

  • Caldwell, B. & Spinks, J. (1992). Leading the Self-Managing School. London: Falmer Press.
  • Centre for Research and International Collaboration, (1998). Handbook on Educational Policy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Institute of Education.
  • Cheng, Y. C. (1996a). The Pursuit of School Effectiveness. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press.
  • Cheng, Y. C. (1996b). School Effectiveness and School-based Management: A Mechanism for Development. London: Falmer Press.
  • Clark, J. L. (1990). Renewing the English Curriculum in Hong Kong : Towards a Framework of Targets and Criterion-referenced Assessment. Paper presented at ED educational seminar for principals.
  • Clark, J. L. (1993). "The Hong Kong model for TTRA standards design: origins and major characteristics" in Cooke, B. (eds.) Curriculum Forum. 3(1) pp.1-5. Hong Kong: The University of Hong Kong.
  • Dalin, et al. (1994). "Findings". In Dalin, P. et al. How Schools Improve: An International Report. London: Cassell.
  • Education Commission. (1990). Report No. 4. Hong Kong: Government printer.
  • Education Department. (1998). Enrolment Statistics 1997. Hong Kong Special Administration Region: Statistic Section.
  • Fullan, M. G. (1992). "Causes/Processes of implementation and continuation". In Bennett N., Crawford M. & Riches C. (eds.). Managing Change in Education: Individual and Organizational Perspectives. London: Paul Chapman Ltd.
  • Gamage, D. T. (1996). School -based Management: Theory, Research & Practice. Colombo: Karunaratne & Sons Ltd.
  • Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. (1997). The 1997 Policy Address. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Printing Department.
  • Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. (1998). The 1998 Policy Address. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Printing Department.
  • Reynolds, D. et al. (1994). "School effectiveness research: A review of the international literature". In Reynolds, D. et al. Advances in School Effectiveness Research and Practice. Oxford: Pergamon.
  • The Board of Education, (1997). Report on Review of 9-year Compulsory Education. Hong Kong: the Government printer.
  • Tung, C. H. (1998). From Adversity to Opportunity (Address by the Chief Executive at the Legislative Council meeting on 7 October 1998). Hong Kong Special Administrative Region: Printing Department.
  • Wittaker, P. (1993). Managing Change in Schools. Buckingham: Open University Press.

    Mr. Chow Ping-yan, Alan is a lecturer and course-co-ordinator at the Division of Continuing Professional Education, The Hong Kong Institute of Education.