Minorities face struggles in class

Less than 40 percent of primary school Chinese language teachers interviewed are confident they can raise non-Chinese speaking students to a learning level on par with native speakers, the Equal Opportunities Commission found.

The EOC conducted a survey on the challenges faced by schools in educating ethnic minorities last year, covering more than 40 percent of primary schools with NCS students.

All interviewed Chinese teachers from schools with 31 to 50 NCS students said they encountered great difficulty in ensuring these students kept up with the curriculum.

Elizabeth Loh Ka-yee, assistant dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Hong Kong, who assisted the research, said NCS students also struggled with other subjects like liberal studies where the history or policies of Hong Kong is like a language from another planet to them.

As experienced teachers are needed for these students, the commission suggests Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po increase the subsidy for schools in the coming budget.

Recognition should also be given to experienced teachers to keep them in the field, Loh said, referring to the well-developed system for Special Educational Needs teachers and suggesting that the Education Bureau could do the same on training teachers for NCS students.

Tang Lit-man, principal of Shek Lei Catholic Primary School with 17 NCS students, said the current subsidy was not enough for hiring the teachers needed for NCS students.

The school receives HK$800,000 per year for hiring specially trained teachers, but "each of them would need about HK$600,000 to 700,000 per year, which means we can only hire one [with the subsidy]," Tang said. "How is it possible for one teacher to handle the NCS students of the whole school?"

However, rather than introducing a coordinator, Tang said he prefers larger flexibility on resources.