In recent years, the decline in the birth rate and the wave of immigration have caused the number of Hong Kong schoolchildren to continue to decline. In this school year (2022/23 school year), all secondary schools in Hong Kong will reduce 46 classes of S1, and 19 middle schools can only operate 2 classes of S1, of which 11 will reduce this school year. With only 2 classes open, the worry of reducing classes and killing schools gradually surfaced.
In an interview with "01 Education", Li Yiying, the newly appointed chairperson of the Subsidized Secondary School Council, said in late November last year that reducing classes or closing schools will inevitably affect students, especially students in disadvantaged schools, and principals and teachers may also have to change jobs because of this. .
In this regard, the Council proposed four solutions, including "adjusting the teacher-student ratio" to less than 30 students per class, "exploiting foreign students", "making schools prepare early" and "establishing a stable and long-term system".
She believes that these measures can not only reduce the shock caused by population changes in the education sector, but also seize the opportunity to improve the quality of education, so as to maintain the vitality of the industry and attract people with lofty ideals to join the industry, so as to promote the development of the industry.
Principal Li Yiying, chairperson of the Council of Subsidized Secondary Schools, mentioned in the interview that she suggested that the education sector seize the opportunity to reduce the teacher-student ratio and further improve the quality of education.
(Photo by Lin Aiyi)
Adjusting the teacher-student ratio will benefit the improvement of the quality of education.
One of the methods proposed by the Jinzhong Council to deal with the reduction of classes and schools is to reduce the teacher-student ratio. Principal Li emphasized that it is not to "safeguard jobs", but to reduce the shock caused by population decline, and at the same time seize the opportunity to further improve the quality of education.
She took language education as an example. If teachers can provide targeted individual feedback (Individual Feedback) based on students’ answers, students will improve faster, but it can only be implemented with a lower teacher-student ratio; The ratio allows the teacher to spend more time listening to the students, and if they find that they have misconceptions, they can be corrected immediately.
Regarding the actual number of students in each class, Principal Li suggested referring to the number of students in each class in primary schools, and adjusting the number of students in each class in middle schools to 25 to 30 students, so that teachers can pay more attention to students and students can enjoy more opportunities to participate in the classroom.
She also added that the adjustment of the teacher-student ratio is not to reduce the number of classes or kill the school, but to hope that the final number will be lower than expected to reduce shocks.
Principal Li Yiying suggested that the reference primary school should adjust the size of each middle school class to 25 to 30 students, so that teachers can pay more attention to students and students can enjoy more opportunities to participate in the classroom.
(Photo by Lin Aiyi)
In response to the decline in the birth rate, open up foreign students and cultivate talents for Hong Kong
In addition to adjusting the teacher-student ratio, the Tianjin-China Council also proposed to attract foreign students to study in Hong Kong, including local subsidized secondary schools.
Principal Li pointed out that expanding the source of students will not only help the industry, but also help Hong Kong to win more young people to stay in Hong Kong for future development.
She believes that the source of foreign students in Hong Kong schools will be mainly from Southeast Asian countries and the Mainland. She believes that subsidized secondary schools are absolutely capable of recruiting foreign students, because Tianjin and Zhongshan have experience in taking care of different students and have their own characteristics, which can correspond to different audiences.
However, the funding of subsidized secondary schools mainly comes from public funds, and the level of tuition fees for foreign students studying in Hong Kong is quite critical.
Principal Li believes that foreign students should pay full tuition fees when they study in Hong Kong. With reference to the current average annual unit cost of 90,000 to 100,000 Hong Kong dollars per middle school student, tuition fees seem to be limited in competitiveness.
However, she believes that Hong Kong education has many advantages, including high overall academic level, compatibility of Chinese and Western cultures, and access to the world, etc. If you don’t do it, you don’t know if it’s true that there’s not even one (student).”
She also gave an example. In the past, Hong Kong schools had similar hesitation in enrolling cross-border students, but now there are tens of thousands of cross-border students. I believe that expanding the source of foreign students will also take time to develop and build word of mouth.
Principal Li Yiying believes that Hong Kong's education sector has many advantages and is attractive to foreign students.
(Photo by Lin Aiyi)
The number of shifts is stable, the number of shifts is constant, and the distance is far. Provide estimation data and prepare early
In response to the drop in student numbers, many secondary schools have to reduce their classes this school year.
Principal Li said that the unstable number of classes is not conducive to the long-term development of the school, making it difficult for the school to estimate the number of teachers and plan the use of school buildings.
Principal Li pointed out that Hong Kong schools generally have limited space in school buildings, but the development of STEAM education, culture, art, and sports requires additional space. A better development?".
For example, if most schools maintain 4 classes per level (24 classes in the whole school) for a long time, even if the population increases or decreases in the future, it is only necessary to adjust the number of classes per class, so as to prevent individual schools from being on the verge of struggling for a long time and reduce the impact on teachers and students .
In the end, Principal Li hoped that the government could provide the education sector with an estimate of the number of classes and plans to facilitate early preparation for the school.
She said that knowing that the government intends to reset the school, "we really want to know, how to do it? How to apply?", and the school can be more prepared after understanding the government's plan.
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