Hong Kong reverses Chinese-only language policy in schools

Nov 12, 2007, 5:10 GMT

Hong Kong - Hong Kong is to reverse a controversial Chinese-only language teaching policy blamed for a sharp decline in the standards of English over the past decade, a news report said Monday.

The territory's education secretary, Michael Suen, is to scrap the 'mother tongue' policy under which many of Hong Kong's schools teach only in Cantonese, the Hong Kong dialect.

The policy, introduced in 1997 when Hong Kong reverted to Chinese sovereignty after 156 years as a British colony, has been blamed for a decline in the standard of English in the city of 6.9 million.

Many worried parents who want their children to learn English have opted to send their children to schools where the policy was not enforced or placed them in paid-for international schools as a result of the policy.

Suen has decreed that schools will no longer be allowed to use Cantonese as their sole teaching medium and must give equal weight to English and Mandarin, China's dominant language.

'To integrate with the mainland, one has to learn Chinese well,' Suen was quoted as saying by Monday's Hong Kong Standard newspaper. 'And to maintain an international status, one has to learn English well.'

As well as scrapping the 'mother tongue' teaching policy, Suen wants TV stations to introduce English subtitles on Chinese programmes to help Hong Kong people learn English better.