With the support of the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE), Oxfam Hong Kong (OHK) has achieved success in its ‘Start from the Beginning - Chinese Supporting Scheme for Non-Chinese Speaking Students (NCS) in Kindergarten’ project, benefitting 74 kindergartens, which accounts for around one-fifth of kindergartens in Hong Kong, along with 1,200 NCS students and 170 teachers.

In a recent sharing seminar and exhibition held at the University of Hong Kong, participating kindergarten teachers in the project presented their insights, experience, teaching materials and achievements in hopes to perfect the Chinese as a second language pedagogy for NCS students in Hong Kong.

Chinese proficiency is key to advancement

Government statistics show that one in three South Asian children in Hong Kong lives below the poverty line. “One major contributing factor to their plight is their lack of Chinese proficiency, as it affects both their studies and future employment,” observes Kalina Tsang, Director General of OHK.

As a charitable organization committed to creating a world without poverty, OHK took matters into their hands in 2015 and created the Chinese enrichment education support program for NCS children with an aim to improve their language skills in Cantonese and thus their competitiveness in the long run.

Collaboration breeds success

Building on OHK’s notable outcomes in the first five years, the SIE Fund arranged for it to adopt the Pay-for-Success (PFS) model for this program in 2020, driving further collaboration among public, private and various sectors to benefit more NCS students.

The project is now the first PFS project in Hong Kong as well as the world’s first PFS project focusing on language education for ethnic minority children. Also known as a Social Impact Bond (SIB), PFS is a public-private partnership which funds effective social services through performance-based contractual arrangements. The project lasts for three years and if the outcome target is achieved, investors will be repaid for their upfront capital and financial return.

The project did not disappoint. With support from the SIE Fund, three investors, including Wu Jieh Yee Charitable Foundation, Lee Hysan Foundation and OHK, together with the collaborative efforts of the project’s leading partners - the Faculty of Education of the University of Hong Kong and Centre for Child and Family Science of the Education University of Hong Kong – have achieved remarkable results.

The project has also been conferred the “Outstanding Social Service Awards” by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS) in its 2021 Best Practice Awards in Social Welfare, in recognition of the project’s outstanding performance in the social service sector.

Providing a wide range of support

The project is, as Tsang explains, aimed at narrowing the proficiency gap between Chinese and non-Chinese students by half. It provides four seed schools and 70 network schools with advanced professional training courses for their teachers and academic support spanning six areas.

At seed schools, consultant teachers teach NCS students directly following a curriculum based on the Dynamic Enrichment Learning Mode (DELM), an innovative pedagogy developed by the team which combines mainstream and second language curricula, where students learn with Chinese-speaking classmates in a group setting.

Teachers of the 70 network schools are trained through the “Train-the-trainer” model, which endows them with relevant knowledge on curriculum design, teaching methods, assessment tools and implementation for teaching Chinese as a second language. Project consultants also work with network schools closely through workshops and school visits to fine-tune teaching contents.

Additionally, the project provides teachers with professional development through inter-school knowledge exchanges in the form of workshops and seminars. Parental support is also offered to ease NCS kindergarteners’ transition to primary school, including workshops, a form-filling service and a hotline.

A wide array of fun-filled teaching materials has been developed to facilitate effective Chinese language learning, including original picture books filled with bright colours and adorable characters, Cantonese nursery rhymes that include lots of vocabulary in authentic Cantonese tones, flashcards and worksheets, and more.

Non-participating schools can also avail of these teaching materials by downloading them from the project’s online platform, which was created with the aim of sharing the materials with more parents and teachers, and in turn, benefit more NCS children.

Overcoming obstacles

The pandemic in the last two years has led to frequent class suspensions. To overcome these obstacles, OHK and its partners had to resort to online classes, online story-telling courses and a four-week summer enrichment course through Zoom. Families without internet access and tablets can apply for free services from social welfare organizations, and are provided with Wi-Fi eggs. Zoom manuals and consultation hotline services were also provided to assist parents with e-learning engagements.

In face-to-face classes, OHK provides teachers with face masks with see-through windows so that children can observe teachers’ oral movements and learn the pronunciation of Chinese words accurately.

Achieving remarkable success

Over the past two years, the project has helped NCS children make tremendous progress in Chinese language acquisition, and has enabled them to understand and speak Cantonese with confidence.

Comparing scores in pre- and post-tests, K2 students at seed schools have improved by nearly 100%, while K3 students have also improved by a significant 96%. More specifically, assessment scores reflect that children’s pronunciation of Chinese characters has improved three-fold, and their word association ability by a whopping 409%.

Students’ improved mastery of the Chinese language was shown in the sharing session featuring seed school teachers, parents and children. Mr. Kashif and Mrs. Payal are very pleased with their children’s big leap in Chinese proficiency, noting that they can finish homework by themselves. “My child has recently been admitted to a local primary school, and he has had no problem adapting to the new environment,” Mrs. Payal adds.

Their toddlers from Pristine Kindergarten, a participating seed school, showed everyone their impressive Chinese language skills by singing three Cantonese nursery rhymes in a row with loud and clear pronunciations. They also read out Chinese vocabulary from picture books without any hesitancy.

The project has also benefitted teachers, equipping them with skills and confidence to teach NCS students Chinese effectively; after joining the project’s “Train-the-trainer” program, teachers have achieved a 1.99 effect size score in terms of Chinese-teaching, meaning they have successfully helped children’s grades climb three levels.

Paving the way to a bright future for NCS children

As the project enters its third year, the focus is now on sharing teachers’ experience and valuable insights through workshops and the project’s online platform.

Dr. Tikky S.P. Chan of the Education University of Hong Kong, a leading partner of the project, encourages teachers to make use of the recently-established online platform for useful teaching resources. “If you find it useful, do share it with your colleagues and friends so that more NCS students can be benefitted,” she says, hoping that there will be more exchanges among teachers in the future.

Looking ahead, Tsang firmly believes that NCS children are among the city’s future pillars. OHK will, she reaffirms, continue to collaborate with its partners to perfect the project and provide a well-established Chinese-learning pedagogy in order to enhance NCS students’ Chinese proficiency. “It’s a prerequisite that ensures they enjoy equal access to opportunities in future studies and employment,” she concludes.

Oxfam’s language support scheme improves ethnic minority children’s Chinese proficiency and future opportunities