Media

Conference on “Receptivity and Responsibility:
Are Mainstream Schools Prepared for Hong Kong’s Ethnic Minority Students?”

10 Dec 2015

Conference to engage with HKSAR government, educators, curriculum designers, and academics on challenge of integrating ethnic minority students into the mainstream system

The Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework (“the Framework”) was introduced in HKSAR Chief Executive Mr. CY Leung’s 2014 Policy Address with a $200 million budget and came as a result of the Concluding Observations issued by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Human Rights Committee on the subject of equitable education for Hong Kong’s ethnic minority children in response to two deputations before them in 2013.

With the disbanding of the former designated schools system, in which ethnic minority students would be spread across a small number of schools, all public schools now face the prospect of receiving increasing numbers of ethnic minority students. This has important implications for how schools teach Chinese, and their integration and diversity policies, which have become prominent concerns for schools and Hong Kong society.

Now that the Framework has been in place for one year and as the Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau (CMAB) prepares to submit its Third Report to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the effectiveness of the Framework and other measures are being evaluated by the key stakeholders that are most impacted by these changes, including students, teachers, parents, lawmakers, advocates, and academics.

To this end, the Centre for Comparative and Public Law (CCPL) at the Faculty of Law, University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Unison have organised a conference entitled Receptivity and Responsibility: Are Mainstream Schools Prepared for Hong Kong’s Ethnic Minority Students? A rundown of the conference is attached.

Date: December 11 2015 (Friday)
Time: 10:00 – 17:30 
Venue: Large Moot Court, 2/F Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, the University of Hong Kong.

The Keynote Speech will be delivered by the Honourable Ip Kin Yuen, Legislative Council representative for the Functional Constituency on Education, and speakers from different stakeholder groups including the Education Bureau, schools, ethnic minority students, and academia (colleagues from the CCPL, the Comparative Education Research Centre, Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, The Hong Kong Institute of Education) will share student and teacher experiences and concerns in relation to teaching Chinese and the implications of the absence of a robust Chinese as a Second Language Curriculum (CSL). Speakers will also highlight examples of effective pedagogy, such as culturally responsive teaching, to achieve equitable education for ethnic minority children in Hong Kong.

The conference provides a platform for the key stakeholders to share the challenges and promises presented by the implementation of the Framework and what this means for Hong Kong schools in terms of their preparedness for receiving increasing numbers of ethnic minority students. The panels of the day will be dedicated to identifying existing gaps in resources, support, and research in this field, and to consider the substantive and practical implications of student and teacher sharing.

Media Inquiries:
Ms. Holing Yip, Hong Kong Unison, publiced@unison.org.hk 27893206 or 53188779
Dr Sherif Elgebeily (English), HKU CCPL, ccplaro@hku.hk  39171938