Liberal changes may add fuel to exodus

Students wishing to study abroad may need to take one more elective subject in the Diploma of Secondary Education exams as overseas universities may no longer recognize liberal studies results, education consultants have warned.

Officials said last week the liberal studies subject will be renamed and revamped by adopting a pass-or-fail grading system in DSE and have its teaching hours halved.

The move has caused a stir in the education sector, with some criticizing it could undermine DSE's credibility and hinder students' admission to foreign universities.

Javis Wai, chief consultant at Maple Overseas Education, said while most foreign institutions do not consider high scores in liberal studies as mandatory, the subject is valued when one applies for social science courses such as law and sociology.

Typically, such applicants are required to get at least Level 3 in the liberal studies exam, Wai said.

"If students are only graded pass or fail, how can universities distinguish their abilities?" he said. "It's likely that they will just stop considering liberal studies scores altogether."

In that case, students may end up not having enough subjects on their DSE score sheets to apply for overseas universities, and may be forced to take an extra elective.

"This can be troublesome as teachers may not allow you to do so," Wai said. DSE has four core subjects - Chinese, English, maths and liberal studies - which students must take. They can also choose one to four electives out of 20 options.

Acknowledging that the liberal studies' revamp could slightly affect DSE's reputation, Wai said the bigger issue is that many overseas institutions are still confused about the subject's curriculum and marking scheme.

Britannia Study Link managing director Samuel Chan Sze-ming believes overseas universities may leave out the subject when admitting Hongkongers - "especially for science-related majors like chemistry and economics where the liberal studies score is not their priority concern anyway."

He said foreign universities already harshly evaluate DSE's credibility, as the exam launched in 2012 has a short history and differs widely from its foreign counterparts like Britain's Advanced Level exams. And now the changes to liberal studies could raise more doubts.

"I received more than 100 calls last weekend from parents concerned about the changes and are considering sending their kids to Britain," he said.

Chan said more than 10 British universities require liberal studies performance with a minimum score of Level 3 or 4.

The Hong Kong Liberal Studies Teachers' Association has argued that the reform in the subject's grading means it no longer fits in the British mechanism, weakening DSE's global recognition.

But Sing Wong, director of Academic Link Overseas Studies Centre, said whether overseas universities will acknowledge the changes depends on how well Hong Kong authorities can explain them to the world.

"Confused about how to treat the new liberal studies subject, universities may end up seeing it as an elective like physical education," Wong said. "It will take time for them to adjust."

mandy.zheng@singtaonewscorp.com