Since 2008, about 20 percent schools in Hong Kong have joined a scheme to promote the use of Mandarin in education
Hong Kong' education bureau has denied media reports on a plan to change instructional language in schools from Cantonese to Mandarin (Photo Jerry Wang/Unsplash)
Hong Kong’s top education official has dismissed media reports on a plan to change instructional language in schools from Cantonese to Putonghua (Mandarin) as “inaccurate.”
Dr. Choi Yuk-lin, Secretary of Hong Kong’s Education said switching to Putonghua is not mandatory but desirable if “teachers meet requirements and schools offer an environment.”
“If some conditions can be met, local schools in Hong Kong should offer education in Putonghua,” said Choi, state-run Global Times reported.
Education institutes in Hong Kong in general use Cantonese, the traditional Chinese language, as the first language of preference. Mandarin is a modern form of Chinese dialect based on the form used in Beijing, which was adopted as the national language in the 1900s.
Earlier media reports had surfaced interpreting Choi’s remarks that Mandarin will be adopted as a medium of instruction. She reportedly said Mandarin would be considered for all schools, or comprehensively implemented throughout Hong Kong.
Experts fear that switching from Cantonese to Mandarin Chinese will put more pressure on the students.
"Being able to speak Mandarin is not equivalent to a high level of proficiency in Chinese. With little linguistic and cultural knowledge, a learner is still poor in the language," Tang Chiu Kay, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, told the Ming Pao newspaper.
"Cantonese is Hong Kong children's mother tongue. Using Mandarin as a medium of instruction in Chinese classes means more barriers and burdens for the children," he added.
In 2014, the Educational Bureau had drawn the ire of Hong Kongers when it said on its website that Cantonese is "a Chinese dialect that is not an official language".
About 97 percent of the estimated 7.5 million Hong Kong population speak Cantonese. The statement from the bureau sparked a strong public backlash for downplaying their mother tongue, forcing the bureau to make amends by withdrawing the notice and acknowledging "inaccurate interpretation of Cantonese".
In 2000, three years after the British handover of Hong Kong to Beijing, the authorities in the semi-autonomous city had set a long-term target to make Mandarin a medium of instruction in all schools, the Straits Times reported.
Since 2008, about 20 percent of Hong Kong’s more than 1,000 schools have joined the government to promote the use of Mandarin in education, media reports suggest.
Pro-democracy activists have already expressed concerns that after suppressing 2019 youth-led democracy protests with draconian National Security Law, the pro-Beijing Hong Kong regime is attempting to assert more control over Hong Kong’s education sector.
The authorities have started rolling out a National Security Education scheme in colleges and universities in line with the National Security Law.
All eight University Grant Committee-funded universities in the city now have launched, or have announced that they are launching, compulsory national security courses. Most student unions have disbanded or are no longer recognized by the institution, Hong Kong Free Press reported.
Dr. Choi has pointed out that some university student unions were “instigating the anti-China sentiment and hatred toward the Chinese people” during the 2019 protests and unrest.
Local media have reported schools in Hong Kong have begun withdrawing books that are deemed against the policies of the Chinese Communist Party. Three schools removed more than 400 books last June including those on topics such as the 2019 protests and the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown.
Amid such uncertainties, Hong Kong’s schools and colleges have been witnessing a mass exodus of students since the imposition of the National Security Law that led to the arrest and jailing of dozens of pro-democracy politicians, supporters and activists including young students.
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