Hong Kong Students with Poor Chinese Language Skills Look for Other Study Options

Hordes of teenage Hong Kong students and their parents flocked to a UK education exposition last weekend to see their study options abroad. These students rather had poor Chinese language skills and have slim chances of entering university, so they were there to look for other options after they finish secondary school. Most of the parents think of sending their children aboard for their university studies.

Poor Chinese language skills

Most parents were aghast at the increasing number of secondary school graduates that fail to get into local universities in Hong Kong. Based on the results released two weeks ago, many students did not reach the required grade in the Chinese language examination that was given by the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.

Only half of the students that took the examination this year passed the minimum requirement in Chinese language that will allow them to enter a university in Hong Kong. This means that the other half will have to study someplace else. It is said that this year’s result is the worst ever. This is also worse for parents who are already struggling to put their children through school.

Worried parents

Parents of children who are studying in schools where English is the medium of instruction are more worried with the current results. They said that the minimum requirement for Chinese is very difficult to meet. Even if their children pass the exam, they are still worried about their children getting into a good university in Hong Kong, since more places are being given to students from the Chinese mainland. While many study options in Hong Kong and abroad are available, students and parents must choose their options wisely.

Pros and cons

Learning to be independent is one of the positive benefits of studying abroad. On the other side of the coin, studying overseas is very costly. Parents and students still have to weigh their options and choose the right school. If the school has lax admission requirements and procedures, the quality of the teaching may be poor as well and foreign students may not get the right kind of learning opportunities and support that they would be paying for.

There is also the fact that there is no guarantee that their children’s English proficiency will improve when they study abroad. Even a college representative from a British university at the exhibition said that British students rarely mix with students from different countries.

Options from schools in Britain

Like most countries, Britain is multicultural and for several decades Hong Kong was under the British. Now they are trying to recruit students from Hong Kong to study in Britain. Many schools are offering one-year foundation programs for international students that cannot be admitted to university directly. But this is not applicable to courses such as architecture, dentistry and medicine. British schools require students to have A-level results if they are interested in these degree courses.

Still, the road to study abroad will not be easy. The University of Reading offers a foundation program as well, but the requisites include a 6.5 score in International English Language Language Testing System (IELTS) and level 3 in three Hong Kong Examinations and and Assessment Authority (HKDSE) subjects.

Also, even if a Hong Kong student get foundation qualifications from a British university, it is only recognized in the U.K. It still would not allow the student to study for a degree in Hong Kong or elsewhere in the world.

Other options are universities in Australia and Canada that offer online courses or options to complete part of the course in Hong Kong and some parts abroad. Money might not be an issue with many families in Hong Kong. It is identifying the proper schools where their children like to study is the foremost issue.

Image credit: Chinese Teacher and Students taken by Flickr user enixii under Public Domain.