INTRODUCTION
Now that you have arrived in Hong Kong, we hope that the information
in this guide will help to make your stay in the HKSAR as enjoyable
and problem-free as possible. Adjusting to life and work abroad is not
always easy and we know that many challenges lie ahead for you. However,
the majority of NET teachers find their time here professionally and
personally rewarding, and only a small proportion of NETs decided not
to renew their contracts last year.
This guide is published with the support of the Native English Speaking
Teachers' association (NESTA), and is provided free of charge to all
new NETs. NESTA is an independent, non profit-making organization, which
was founded in 1998 by NET teachers. It provides its members with professional
support and advice, social activities and a forum for the education
system in Hong Kong. NET teachers are under no obligation to join NESTA
and NESTA does not make any claim to represent the opinions of all NET
teachers in Hong Kong.
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LIFE
IN HONG KONG
1.Where
should I live and what will it cost me?
Your most important consideration when choosing a flat will probably
be how close it is to your school. The school day usually starts quite
early in Hong Kong and this deters some people from commuting a long
distance. That said, Hong Kong's public transport system can take you
a long way quickly and cheaply as long as you don't mind the standing-room
only crowds during the rush hour.
Popular areas for expatriate residents in Hong Kong include the Mid-Levels
of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon Tong, Sai Kung in the Eastern New Territories,
the Gold Coast near Tuen Mun in the Western New Territories, Discovery
Park in Tsuen Wan, Discovery Bay on Lantau Island and parts of Shatin
in the New Territories. Many people are attracted to these areas by
the prospect of living in the company of other English speakers and
of having access to international style shops and restaurants. However,
Hong Kong is an increasingly cosmopolitan city and there are now few
areas of Hong Kong where it is difficult to find goods and services
to suit western tastes. Moreover, the cost of living in an ex-pat 'enclave'
is usually higher than that of living in a more 'local' area. While
a traffic free, quiet location like Discovery Bay may appeal to a family
with young children, many NETs complain that such areas lack the 'buzz'
of the city.
The vast majority of people in Hong Kong live in high-rise flats, and
most expatriates coming to work in Hong Kong will find that the accommodation
that they can afford to live in while they are here is considerably
smaller than what they are used to.
Rental accommodation is not quite as expensive as many people imagine
it will be, but rents have been increasing quite quickly over the past
two years after falling during the Asian economic crisis and bottoming
out in the immediate aftermath of SARS. For a 750 square foot three
bedroom flat close to the MTR (underground express rail service) on
Hong Kong Island you should expect to pay about $13,000 - $15,000 per
month, (2005/6) and prices are considerably less in the New Territories.
The special allowance, currently $12,950, is linked to changes in the
rental index. Many NETs will find that this is enough to cover their
housing needs, but those with a family and those who want to live in
more sought after neighbourhoods will need to supplement their allowance
out of their salary.
Many NETs, especially those who are single, choose to rent serviced
hotel apartments during the first few months of their stay in Hong Kong.
This can be a good option as hotels across the city offer long-term
stay packages and once fringe costs such as electricity and gas bills
are thrown into the equation, staying in a hotel is usually not much
more expensive than renting. The hotel apartment option also gives you
more time to look around for accommodation and find a place to rent
that suits you. Because of these advantages, some hotels such as the
Royal Plaza Hotel in Mong Kok and the Panda Hotel in Tsuen Wan have
become virtual NET colonies.
2.What's
the procedure for renting a flat in Hong Kong?
Rental contracts in Hong Kong are usually for two years. The tenant
must usually promise not to break the tenancy for the first thirteen
months and then during the second year of the tenancy he or she must
give the landlord two months’ notice of any plans to move.
The "start-up" cost of renting a flat is high as the tenant
has to pay the first month's rent in advance, pay half a month's commission
to an estate agency and pay two month's deposit to the landlord. The
deposit is refunded at the end of the contract without interest. Therefore
if the monthly rent for an apartment were $12,000, the tenant would
have to pay an initial lump sum of $42,000 before moving in.
A salary advance is promised to NETs in their contracts. This is intended
to help them with the initial costs of renting a flat. However, occasionally
in the past there have been administrative delays in the payment of
this advance. To be on the safe side therefore, NETs should bring as
much money with them as they anticipate they will need during their
first month in Hong Kong.
3.How expensive
is living in Hong Kong?
There is no simple answer to this question because the cost of living
Hong Kong is so dependent upon the type of lifestyle that you expect
to have while you are here. Many expatriates in Hong Kong dine exclusively
at Western restaurants, take up golf, join a yacht club or spend their
nights drinking in trendy areas like Lan Kwai Fong and then complain
about how much it has all cost them. At the other end of the spectrum,
it is certainly possible to buy your food from local markets, eat out
at Chinese style cafes and spend very little money indeed (although
you might miss out on the fun).
Most people will fall between the two extremes and will find themselves
pleasantly surprised by the inexpensive local cuisine, by the affordability
of produce at supermarkets, and by their low long distance phone bills.
With the exception of rent and of top-end luxury goods, most goods and
services cost much less than they would in Britain and Europe and only
slightly more than they would in Australia or North America. The effect
of the weak US dollar, to which the Hong Kong dollar is pegged, has
been to make living costs appear lower for visitors from overseas; at
the same time of course, the weak dollar has made Hong Kong salaries
less attractive to expatriates.
4.Where
can my kids go to school?
Local schools are not usually an attractive option
for NETs because the majority of them teach in Cantonese and because
even in English medium schools non-Chinese speaking students are few
and far between and are consequently at a disadvantage. The Education
Department publishes a list of English medium secondary schools that
offer students another language option as an alternative to Chinese
(usually French) and that encourage applications from non-Chinese speakers.
However, these are almost all elite schools that are heavily over-subscribed,
so last minute applications stand little chance of success, the exception
being a very small number of state subsidized schools which cater primarily
to the South Asian community but which are happy to offer places to
students from other backgrounds. As the new senior secondary curriculum
which is due to be introduced in 2008 will include Chinese Language
as a compulsory subject, it is likely that even fewer non-Chinese speaking
children will be able to study at local schools beyond that date.
Most expatriate parents of school age children opt to send them to fee
paying independent International schools in the territory or to an English
Schools’ Foundation school. The latter are partially subsidized
by the government but still charge a fee. ESF and other international
secondary schools typically charge fees of between $70,000-$120,000
per year, with places at ESF primary schools costing about $50,000 per
year. Another option is to enroll your child in a Direct Subsidy Scheme
school as although these schools receive government funding, they enjoy
much greater freedom over the syllabus that they offer and the students
that they can accept than other schools.
A less expensive option is distance learning, but this presents the
problem of leaving your child socially isolated in Hong Kong and if
your child is between the ages of 6 and 15 then home schooling is illegal.
5.What about
taxes? How much will I have to pay and when?
Salaries tax is charged in arrears on the income earned during a tax
year. The tax year runs from April 1st to March 31st. Usually you will
receive a tax return form from the Inland Revenue in May or June directly
following the end of your first tax year in Hong Kong. Once you have
sent back this return you will usually receive a tax demand a few weeks
later but the tax will not usually be payable until a few months later.
Tax is payable in two installments and, in addition to including the
full tax payable for the completed tax year, your bill will include
a provisional demand for the subsequent tax year. Thus a teacher who
arrives in Hong Kong in August 2006 would normally receive his first
tax demand in May or June 2007 and would not pay any tax until around
January 2008. The top marginal rate of salaries tax in Hong Kong is
18% and the top average rate is 16%. However, the first $100,000 of
income is tax-free and the next $105,000 of income is taxed at low marginal
rates. There are also generous tax exemptions for dependent children.
As a result, only a very small proportion of tax-payers pay the full
16% tax rate.
The special allowance and the gratuity count as taxable income.
6.What's the MPF
and how will it affect me?
In December 2000 the Mandatory Provident Fund regulations came into
effect so now all employees in Hong Kong are required to pay 5% of their
monthly income up to a maximum of $1,000 into a pension scheme. Their
employers also contribute an amount equivalent to 5% of monthly income
up to a maximum of $1,000 into this pension scheme. It is not possible
to terminate the scheme and draw out the benefits from it until you
retire at the age of 60 or permanently leave Hong Kong.
NET teachers who are not Hong Kong permanent residents and who can provide
evidence that they are participating in a pension scheme in their home
country are entitled to opt for exemption from the Mandatory Provident
Fund. If you wish to be exempted from the scheme, you should inform
your school office as soon as possible. As expatriate teachers have
traditionally been paid a gratuity instead of receiving pension benefits,
the Education and Manpower Bureau has decided that employers' contributions
to NET teachers' MPFs should be deductible from their gratuities. Therefore,
if you participate in the MPF then when you receive your gratuity at
the end of two years service you will find that up to $1,000 per month
will have been deducted from what you would have originally been entitled
to. This money will have been paid into your pension fund and you will
only become entitled to it when you leave Hong Kong permanently or when
you retire.
7.What
about health insurance?
Your contract entitles you to reimbursement of medical insurance of
up to $1,400 per year if you are single or $5,400 per year if you are
married. Hong Kong has a comprehensive public health system. Emergency
treatment at accident and emergency wards, non-emergency hospital treatment
and G.P. consultations carry only a nominal cost. However, while many
people comment favourably on their experiences of Hong Kong's public
hospitals, non-emergency patients at public hospitals and clinics often
have to wait a long time for treatment and some people have reservations
about the standard of the public health service here. General wards
are Spartan at best and hospital catering is extremely basic.
When you take out health insurance in Hong Kong you should be careful
to check how comprehensive the cover is since many policies will only
cover the cost of certain types of treatment up to a fairly low limit
and will have a large number of exclusions. In non-emergency cases it
is also important to get an estimate from a hospital and to double check
with your insurer that the treatment you intend to receive is covered
before being admitted. Also, make sure you know how much the hospital
charges for 'extras'. Some private hospitals in Hong Kong will even
charge you for tissue paper!
Several NETs have complained that despite having insurance they were
left seriously out of pocket after routine hospital treatment. This
is an area where it is best to be forewarned and to exercise caution.
8.My
spouse in coming to Hong Kong with me. Can they get a job here too?
Spouses and children are admitted to Hong Kong on a dependent visa.
From July 2003
accompanying spouses were permitted to work in Hong Kong only with specific
permission
from the Immigration Department. There was no automatic entitlement
for spouses to work here.
As of May 15th 2006 there have been no restrictions on spouses taking
up jobs. Inquiries can be
made with the Immigration Department at 2824 6111.
People caught working without an employment visa risk having their permit
to stay cancelled
and may even face imprisonment.
9.What
can I do with my free time?
Hong Kong provides residents from overseas with a wide range of options
to fill their free time, but some of these are expensive.
As Hong Kong is very mountainous and only 20% of the territory is built
up, it provides fabulous opportunities for hiking and climbing. When
the city is choking in smog it is always possible to get some fresh
air by heading for the hills. Hong Kong's country parks have many trails
to suit walkers of all levels of ability and also have barbecue pits,
picnic areas and free campsites.
There are also many options for those who enjoy water-sports. Many of
Hong Kong's beaches, particularly those near the city, are very crowded,
but it is possible to find places in the New Territories where you can
have miles of sand to yourself. It is also possible to try out windsurfing,
canoeing or simply to club together with friends and hire a junk for
a day.
Hong Kong has many cinemas that show the latest Hollywood releases and
a small number of venues that show 'art-house' films. Cantonese and
Mandarin language films are almost always subtitled in English but Japanese
films are often only subtitled in Chinese so it's best to check before
you buy your tickets.
The Hong Kong government has been striving for some time to improve
the standing of the arts in the territory and while the range on offer
is by no means comparable with London or New York there are still plenty
of opportunities to see opera, ballet and classical music here. Major
productions of classical drama in English are less frequent, however,
and it is often difficult to get tickets for cultural events unless
you plan well in advance.
There are several major events in the cultural calendar in Hong Kong
including the Arts Festival (February - March), the Hong Kong Rugby
Sevens (March), the Salem Tennis Open (April) and the Folk Festival
(November). Traditional Chinese festivals such as the Mid-Autumn Festival
and Tuen Ng (the Dragon-Boat) Festival also provide opportunities for
entertainment.
Eating out is one of the main attractions of the city as a variety of
regional and international cuisine is represented by Hong Kong's many
thousands of restaurants at prices to suit every budget. Tsim Sha Tsui,
Lan Kwai Fong and Wan Chai also have pubs and night-clubs which stay
open until very late. However, it is probably wisest to avoid the infamous
go-go bars in the territory as many of these overcharge their customers.
10.Can
I take on a part-time job in my free time?
The Immigration Department only issues you a work visa
for the specific job for which you come to Hong Kong, so if you want
to take up part-time work you have to get permission from the immigration
department first. You will also have to get permission from your principal
and a letter from the part-time employer. Nonetheless, many have taken
on duties such as adult education, exam marking and private tuition
which have helped to enhance their professional development.
The Education
System in Hong Kong
How
is the education system structured?
All children of Hong Kong residents are entitled to nine years of universal
basic education and are expected to attend school between the ages of
six and fifteen. Most children attend kindergartens from the age of
three onwards although there is only limited public funding for pre-school
education in the form of means-tested subsidies. Although after the
age of fifteen education is no longer compulsory, only a small proportion
of teenagers drop out of formal education entirely at this stage.
Primary education lasts six years and the vast majority of primary school
students are taught in Cantonese. Secondary education is divided into
three stages. Secondary Forms One to Three are a foundation stage; Forms
Four and Five prepare students for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education
Exam and Forms Six and Seven prepare students for the Advanced Level
Exam and university matriculation. These two exams are scheduled to
be replaced by a unified diploma from 2011 onwards.
Less academically able secondary level student have the option of attending
prevocational schools and technical colleges where they can follow a
curriculum which is modified to suit their needs and take vocational
courses alongside a core of conventional academic subjects.
At many schools, students are streamed into 'arts', 'business' or 'engineering'
streams from Form Four (usually age fifteen) upwards. They are required
to study a block of complimentary subjects, which it is believed would
lead logically to certain degree and career choices. Thus for the majority
of students there is little flexibility in the options that they take
after Form Three and they are effectively required to make permanent
choices determining the shape of their future careers at the age of
fourteen. One of the intended benefits of the new senior secondary curriculum,
which is scheduled for introduction in 2008 or 2009, is that rigid streaming
is expected to become a thing of the past.
Promotion between forms in a school is not automatic and usually depends
on a student's performance in coursework and exams having met certain
minimum requirements. Thus it is not that unusual to have to teach a
seventeen year old in a class of predominantly thirteen year olds.
At the end of Form Three, students compete to obtain subsidized places
in their own schools and students who have performed less well in assessments
at this stage may have to apply elsewhere or wait to be allocated through
a pool system. Subsidies for students in forms Four and above are means
tested so better off parents are expected to contribute a proportion
of the costs of their children's last four years of secondary schooling.
The least able students often find that the only schools that are willing
to take them are a very long way away from home and therefore the only
practical choice left open to them is to go to a private school or take
evening classes.
What
different types of schools are there in Hong Kong?
Schools in Hong Kong fall into four main categories according to how
they are managed.
Of the 430 secondary schools in Hong Kong, about 30 are government schools
and are directly controlled by the Education Department. Teachers at
these schools are often employed on civil service terms and are recruited
and deployed through a central allocation system. Nonetheless, the principals
of these schools have considerable freedom to make decisions about the
day to day running of the school.
The vast majority of schools in Hong Kong are subsidized schools. These
are often also called sub-vented or grant schools. They are independently
owned and managed by a board of governors but they are dependent upon
government funding. Most of these schools were originally founded by
Christian or Buddhist religious orders, by charitable bodies, or by
organizations representing people with a shared ancestry or who migrated
to Hong Kong from the same part of the mainland.
Direct Subsidy Schools are schools that receive government funding but
are also allowed to charge fees, subject to the requirement that they
fully or partially subsidize places for a set proportion of their intake.
These schools generally follow the local curriculum but enjoy greater
freedom over staffing, class size and admissions. Schools in the DSS
scheme are largely subject to market forces and in some cases the competition
between them has led to more innovative teaching practices.
There are also a number of independent fee paying schools in Hong Kong,
some of which cater mainly to the international community and some of
which cater mainly to post Form Four students who were unable to obtain
a place in a government or subsidized school. NET teachers will only
be posted to government or subsidized schools. Schools are also categorized
by the type of syllabus that they follow and (unofficially) the typical
level of ability of the students on roll.
The majority of schools in Hong Kong are technically also categorized
as 'grammar' schools. 'Grammar' schools are attended by 91% of secondary
students in Hong Kong. This category may be confusing to teachers who
are used to the term being used to describe elite selective schools
which traditionally prepared students for university matriculation.
In Hong Kong, the term 'grammar' school simply denotes that the students
follow a conventional academic syllabus and are prepared for the HKCEE
(post-16) and HKALE (post-18) exams.
Students in secondary schools are placed into three 'bands' according
to their performance in school based assessment at the end of their
primary education, and there is a considerable amount of competition
among students for places at the most prestigious schools. Schools are
for the most part filled by students who fall within the same banding
and so you will often hear people talking about the banding of their
school.
The fact that conventional schools are often called 'grammar' schools
is indicative of a major problem in the education system. Universal
free secondary education came about comparatively recently in Hong Kong,
as recently as the 1960s and 1970s New schools set up at that time attempted
to closely imitate the syllabus taught at the elite schools despite
the lack of financial resources and the fact that the syllabus was too
demanding for most students to be able to cope with.
Other types of schools include:
1. Prevocational and technical schools where students follow a less
academic, more vocational syllabus,
2. Skills opportunity schools and practical schools for demotivated
students and slow learners; and
3. Special needs schools which cater for students with a physical or
mental handicap.
However, the government has adopted the policy of integrating students
with special needs into mainstream schools and so these special school
categories are rapidly being phased out.
What
are the main problems in the education system in Hong Kong?
Over the past few years, the government has been eager to convince the
public that it is treating education as a priority. A number of governmental
and semi-autonomous bodies, including the Curriculum Development Council,
the Education Commission, the Standing Committee on Language and Research,
the Quality Assurance Inspectorate, Education Convergence and so forth,
advise the government on education issues. The result of this is that
a large number of initiatives in education have had to be implemented
by schools at the behest of these bodies without sufficient reflection
about whether teachers are ready for them or about the workload involved.
New initiatives often require schools to set up committees or to do
the paper-work in order to be able to prove to the Education and Manpower
Bureau and to school inspectors that they have responded to government
recommendations; the result of this is that teachers are weighed down
with bureaucracy and often complain that they have insufficient time
to prepare lessons, help individual students, or simply enjoy a life
outside of school. These top-down initiatives have also often demoralized
teachers because they seem to have been based on the assumption that
teachers are not sufficiently professional to be able to judge for themselves
what is in the best interests of their students.
Another significant problem faced by teachers and students in Hong Kong
is a shortage of funding. Although the past decade has seen dramatic
increases in the amount of money spent on education by the government,
schools are still under-funded in comparison with their counterparts
in the west.
The typical class size in secondary schools in Hong Kong is 40 to 42
students. These students often have to be accommodated in cramped classrooms
that do not lend themselves to innovative teaching methods, and having
such large classes makes it difficult for teachers to get to know their
students well.
Many schools also suffer from a lack of equipment and resources. For
example, some schools have only one photocopier and there are even a
few schools where the budget is so tight that teachers are required
to provide their own toilet paper!
Due to the economic downturn in recent years, the government had to
delay providing funds for essential maintenance work at some schools.
Recently the media has reported cases of students having to be taught
in rooms affected by damp and leaking ceilings. The government has been
catching up with renovation work, but it will be some time before the
effects of this are felt in all schools.
Perhaps the biggest worry for teachers is the very low birth rate in
Hong Kong. Over the past decade, this has fallen very rapidly so that
now each couple in Hong Kong has on average only 0.9 children. As a
result, the school population has begun shrinking. Many primary schools
have not been able to enroll enough students into their Primary One
classes in order to satisfy government funding requirements, and are
consequently facing the prospect of closure. Unless the government agrees
to take advantage of the demographic shift in order to phase in small
class teaching, it is only a matter of time before secondary schools
run into the same problems.
What
are the major concerns for English language teachers?
The Education and Manpower Bureau has identified a number of major concerns
which it encourages schools to focus on, and teachers and subject panels
are encouraged to incorporate responses to these concerns into their
lesson plans. Most of these concerns are relevant in some way to the
teaching of English. They include: fostering a reading culture; instilling
positive attitudes towards life-wide learning; enhancing moral education;
using IT for teaching and learning; and developing civic and national
education. You will almost certainly be asked to contribute ideas for
how to achieve some of these objectives in your panel.
At present, students taking the HKCEE (post-16) examination in English
language can choose between two syllabuses, with one syllabus designed
for students of average ability and the other designed for more able
students. From 2007 onwards, students will all sit one combined exam
and the examination authority will also switch from normative to criterion-based
assessment of English. 15% of the examination marks will be determined
by school-based assessment. For this assessment, students will be required
to read two books and watch two videos, including fiction and non-fiction,
and then discuss these with classmates as well as giving individual
oral presentations. Teachers will be required to report oral marks at
the end of Form Four and at the end of Form Five. Training for school-based
assessment will begin in September 2005, at the same time as the affected
students begin their HKCEE course. There is considerable concern about
the impact that this will have on teachers’ workloads.
How
is the education system changing?
The government has already initiated several major changes in its education
policy in the past few years. The most significant of these has been
the decision to require the majority of secondary schools to use Cantonese
as the medium of instruction instead of English. It is hoped that this
will make it easier for students to understand what they are being taught
and so will enhance student motivation and the quality of teaching and
learning. However, one third of schools (those at which a minimum proportion
of students are sufficiently strong at English in order to be able to
cope with using the language as a medium of instruction) have been allowed
to keep teaching in English. As parents associate English medium of
instruction with better English and better career prospects for their
children, these EMI schools have become heavily oversubscribed. The
government is now considering plans to introduce new criteria to determine
whether schools can remain EMI, with a view to putting these in place
in 2008. In order to use English, a school will have to ensure that
85% of its students fall in the top 40% for English, Maths and Chinese.
These requirements may mean that English medium schools are penalized
for offering places to children who are native English speakers but
who are less academically inclined or who do not speak or read Chinese.
Schools will also have to prove that their teachers are capable of teaching
in English; older staff members who entered the profession before the
Use of English A-level exam was created may find it difficult to prove
their language ability on paper.
The government has launched a Quality Education Fund, which allocates
resources to schools on a competitive basis; in order to be awarded
funds, schools have to demonstrate that the money will be spent in an
innovative way and will enhance learning. Many schools have used these
funds to develop original and forward-looking schemes in fields such
as information technology and multimedia but a criticism of the QEF
is that it has led to an uneven distribution of funds.
The government is also determined to promote the use of information
technology in schools and has put large amounts of money into pilot
I.T. projects in selected schools. The government also requires every
teacher to pass a benchmark in order to demonstrate that he or she has
attained basic information technology skills. In order to comply with
this requirement, you may find that you are expected to attend very
lengthy I.T. courses. Some teachers have complained that they have been
required to waste hours being 'taught' very basic I.T. skills that they
had already mastered. Others have expressed the concern that the more
advanced courses that their schools want everyone to pass don't fall
far short of qualifying those who take them for working for NASA! In
the early stages of this scheme, schools conducted in-service training
to enable their staff to reach the IT benchmarks; now if you need IT
training it is more likely to have to take place in your own time and
at your own expense.
Another major change is the drive to promote professionalism in education.
At present a significant proportion of teachers do not hold a first
degree or do not have a teaching qualification. The government intends
that in the future all teachers will have a university degree and hold
a teacher’s certificate, but a shortage of funds and recent salary
cuts may make it difficult for the government to attract a sufficient
number of graduates to the profession over the next few years.Therefore,
the government has decided to require teachers who do not hold a degree
in the subject that they teach to complete extensive ‘subject
knowledge’ courses – English teachers are being required
to take these courses even if they have passed the language benchmark,
and many of them complain that they are expensive, time-consuming and
of limited practical relevance to their needs in the classroom.
In addition all serving teachers are also required to complete 150 hours
of continuing professional development over a three-year period, although
what counts as CPD has been defined very broadly. A common concern is
the poor quality of training provided for teachers by the Education
and Manpower Bureau and the lack of consultation with teachers over
what they perceive to be their training needs.
English teachers are now required to sit benchmarking tests or take
courses in order to demonstrate their proficiency in the language. NETs,
together with local teachers who have a degree or PCEd. majoring in
English, are exempt from benchmarking, but other teachers will have
to pass the benchmark by 2006.
The most dramatic changes to the education system, however, are those
that have been proposed recently by the Education Commission. The commission
wants to replace the HKCEE (post 16) and HKALE (post 18) exams with
a unitary exam and wants to reduce senior secondary schooling from four
years to three in order to make it possible for university courses to
be extended from three years to four. Under the proposed new senior
secondary syllabus, all students will be required to study a three-year
senior secondary course leading to a diploma. This will include compulsory
English, Maths, Chinese and Liberal Studies as well as either two or
three additional optional subjects. Both traditional academic subjects
and more career-oriented courses will be on offer. A significant proportion
of marks for every diploma subject will come from school-based assessment.
This reform is aimed at giving a greater number of students access to
a complete high-school education which will potentially equip them for
university; at present only 18% of students continue their education
beyond Form Five. However, the new syllabuses and the requirement to
conduct school-based assessment will greatly increase teachers’
workloads, at least during the transitional period.
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Your
role as NET
What
will a typical day be like?
A school day in Hong Kong typically starts at some time between 8 a.m.
and 8.30 a.m. You will probably be expected to sign in on a staff list
when you arrive at work. As a NET it is unlikely that you will be assigned
a form or homeroom, although you may be asked to assist a homeroom teacher
with his duties which will usually only entail substituting for him
when he is unable to take the class register.
At most schools, assemblies only take place once per week or once per
teaching cycle, but some schools hold them every day. A large proportion
of these assemblies may be taken up by announcements. As some schools
do not have a sufficiently large hall for all the students they either
arrange assemblies in shifts or hold their assemblies out of doors.
Your school may use a six-day or seven-day cycle in order to accommodate
minor subjects into the timetable and may change the sequence of cycle
days from time to time in order to accommodate special events and activities,
so it is wise to double-check which day of the cycle it is when you
arrive at work.
Classes will usually last between thirty and forty-five minutes. You
will probably find that if you teach senior forms these are allocated
some double or even triple periods of English on their timetables in
order to allow teachers sufficient time to conduct exam practice.
At some schools there are two short recesses before lunch, but you will
find that much of your recess and lunch times are taken up with dealing
with disciplinary matters, with giving help to individual students or
organizing extra-curricular activities.
The school day usually ends between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. but you will probably
run extra-curricular activities, teach supplementary classes or attend
meetings after school.
With a bit of luck you will have had enough time during your free periods
to mark at least some of your students' work, but there will always
be times when you may have to take books home with you.
Does
the role of a Primary NET differ from that of a Secondary NET?
Primary NETs are provided to primary schools operating 6 classes or
more on a sharing basis, i.e. 1 NET serves 2 schools. The Primary NETs
are required to -
(a) undertake teaching duties and try out good teaching models/practices
related to the learning, teaching and assessment of English;
(b) organize and conduct extra-curricular activities related to English
learning and teaching such as plays/skit performances, school-based
English camps, English language games (day), story-telling activities,
songs and dances, verse speaking, and extensive reading; and, if applicable,
to contribute to other extra-curricular activities such as IT, art and
craft activities and sports;
(c) provide support for the English panel, including contributing to
school-based curriculum development and professional development of
fellow teachers as well as developing and preparing learning/teaching
materials; and
(d) act as an advisor on language teaching and learning for the principal
and teachers in the school.
What
are the objectives of the Primary NET Scheme?
It aims
to support and strengthen English language teaching and learning in
one form or another by -
(a) providing an authentic environment for children to learn English
and developing their confidence in using English for communication;
(b) developing innovative teaching and learning methods, materials,
curricula and activities suited to the needs of local children;
(c) promoting the professional development of local teachers; and
(d) disseminating good practices in language teaching and learning developed
within the scheme through regional teacher development programmes such
as experience-sharing seminars/workshops and networking activities.
What
support is available to NET Teachers?
Support Mechanism in
Primary Schools
Each school is required to assign an experienced school English teacher
(SET) to work in partnership with the NET. The SET acts as a bridge
between the NET and the school management and other English teachers
so as to facilitate institutionalization of innovative/effective teaching
methods and curriculum resources developed collaboratively with the
NET in the school.
The Government provides support for the Scheme by way of an Advisory
Teaching Team (ATT), which comprises 20 NETs and 20 local English teachers
(LETs) seconded from primary schools. The ATT designs and operates regular
staff development programmes for the NETs and the SETs and conducts
school development visits to monitor the deployment of NETs in individual
schools. It provides support for the development of innovative/effective
teaching methods and related curriculum resources and disseminates good
teaching practices in primary schools. The ATT also provides peripatetic
support for schools with fewer than six classes.
In addition to setting up the ATT, professional support teams (PSTs)
are formed to provide pastoral care for the NETs and monitor and evaluate
the Scheme.
Support Mechanism in Secondary Schools
A Secondary Advisory Teaching Team is currently under discussion and
information will be added here when it becomes available.
Of course, there is also the support offered by NESTA. In particular,
the NESTA liaison officer holds regular meetings with government officials
and when necessary is able to pass individuals’ concerns on to
the relevant authorities.
What
will a typical year be like?
Although the term starts in early September, the school
year really starts during the last week of August when you will probably
be expected to attend whole school and departmental meetings. The first
term of the year is by far the longest and most demanding as it lasts
seventeen weeks and there are no half term holidays, although several
public holidays fall during this part of the year.
The autumn term is also the most demanding for English teachers in terms
of extracurricular activities as it is during this term that the speech
festival and preparation for other major drama competitions take place.
You will probably be expected to train students for poetry recitals,
prose reading or choral speaking as well as possibly having to direct
a play, coach a debating team or run top-up classes for students who
are planning to retake public exams.
As Hong Kong usually gets its best weather during the autumn this is
also the time of year when you are most likely to be expected to attend
and help out at sports days and swimming galas. Many schools also schedule
a picnic day during this term. On picnic day you and your colleagues
will be expected to accompany a group of students to a country park
or outlying island; the most popular activity on picnic days is barbecuing
.
Toward the end of the first term you will be expected to process reports
for your students. At most schools report writing only involves entering
a grade into a computer based on the students’ average performance
in written assignments during the term. These grades are often then
used to rank students against the rest of their year-group (which must
be demoralizing for those unlucky souls who receive a report telling
them that they have come 242nd out of a year group of 242 students).
In some schools you will be asked to give comments using a code system.
It is unusual for schools to expect subject teachers to write out comments.
At around the same time you will also be expected to set papers for
the mid-year exams which take place in January.
The short term between Christmas and Chinese New Year usually lasts
between four and six weeks depending on the vagaries of the lunar calendar.
Usually two weeks of this period are taken up by invigilating and marking
mid-year exams and another week is taken up by going over exam papers
with students to check that your marking is correct and to help them
to understand what they did right and what they did wrong. At around
this time you will probably find that you have to wear thick clothing
to school as Hong Kong's winters are surprisingly cold and schools usually
do not have any heating. Around this time, parents come into the school
to meet their children's homeroom teachers and to collect report cards.
You may have the chance to meet parents at this time, but it is not
normal for parents to meet all their children's subject teachers and
parents who have limited English are often reluctant to arrange meetings
with expatriate teachers.
From February onwards life at school usually gets progressively less
stressful. Extra-curricular activities usually place less of a demand
on teachers' time in the second half of the year as students are too
preoccupied with preparing for their final exams or for public exams
to have time for extra-mural activities. If you are teaching Form Seven
students you will find that your timetable becomes lighter in the middle
of March when they have their last classes before their A-level exams.
If you are teaching Form Five classes then life will become easier for
you when they leave school in April. However, you will probably be called
on to invigilate public exams during this period.
During the summer months, many schools adopt a summer timetable in order
to save on the costs of air conditioning during Hong Kong’s extremely
hot summer afternoons. If you are extremely lucky, you may even be able
to go home by 1:30 p.m.
Late May and early June see another round of report processing and of
setting, invigilating and marking internal exams. After the final exams
are over, most schools have post exam activities running from late June
to the end of term in the middle of July.
During this period, normal classes are suspended. This allows the school
some time for administrative matters, the most pressing of which are
promotion meetings. At promotion meetings, homeroom and subject teachers
will be called upon to discuss their students' performance and to decide
on which students would benefit from being required to retake the school
year.
The post-exams activities period also gives teachers the chance to run
extra-curricular activities and it is common for schools to schedule
dramas, competitions and fetes at this time of the year.
What
should I do in order to get on with my local colleagues?
Do not be surprised if some local colleagues are suspicious of you at
first or feel nervous about approaching you. It is not unusual for local
teachers, however good their English may be, to feel embarrassed about
their English when faced with having to speak to an expatriate. Bear
in mind that many local teachers may feel that as a NET you are in a
privileged position both financially and in terms of the duties that
you are expected to fulfill. It is important to make sure that you are
perceived as a friend rather than a threat and are welcomed rather than
resented. Therefore the onus is on you to break the ice.
There are several ways that you can do this. Teachers in Hong Kong seem
to greatly enjoy sharing snacks with each other, and going around your
immediate neighbours in the staff room in order to offer them biscuits,
chocolates and so forth is a good way of befriending them. You might
also consider asking people where they recommend that you should go
for lunch as this will increase your chances of getting a lunch invitation.
However much you may find the way in which your school is run frustrating,
it is probably wisest to avoid voicing your criticisms on sensitive
matters. The Chinese resent it intensely if anyone makes them lose face,
and although people may put on a show of not being offended by your
criticisms, if you have hurt their feelings you can be sure that they
will bear a grudge against you for a long time. By all means make constructive
suggestions for how things could be done better and by all means put
forward your new ideas, but don't assume that you can make things change
overnight; otherwise your colleagues will think that you are arrogant
and will probably ignore you.
Try to make your local colleagues feel that you appreciate them by asking
them for advice about students and about the local culture. Try to encourage
them to share their teaching ideas and lesson plans with you; if you
do this first there will be a much greater chance of them being open
to your suggestions. Find opportunities to praise and encourage your
colleagues whenever possible.
*******
Your
students
How much English will my
students already know?
Your students' competence in English and their willingness to learn
will vary tremendously depending on which school you are assigned to.
If you are assigned to a prestigious Band One school you may find that
even your youngest students are performing competently at upper-intermediate
or even advanced level. However, this will not necessarily mean that
they are particularly keen on English. Maths and the sciences are often
considered by students to be more prestigious subjects, and so you may
find it difficult to foster enthusiasm for English among your brighter
students - although girls seem to enjoy English more than boys do.
Cantonese, which is the mother tongue of about 90% of Hong Kong residents,
is usually referred to as a ‘dialect’ of Chinese. In fact,
it is as different from Mandarin/ Putonghua, China’s official
language, as English is from German. As Chinese is a non-alphabetic
language, students find phonics surprisingly challenging. As the language
has no cognates with English and does not even have many loan words,
students have little in their own language to help them to learn English
vocabulary. However, the biggest challenge for Chinese speakers who
are learning English is grammar. Cantonese, like all other Chinese dialects,
is an isolating, non-agglutinative language. It has no suffixes or prefixes,
no system of changing word-endings to mark plurals, declension or tenses,
and nothing that resembles English phrasal verbs – so all of these
grammar items present a challenge for Chinese students. Cantonese has
no /sh/, /zh/, /z/, or /v/ sounds, very few consonant blends and fewer
dipthongs than English, so pronunciation and distinguishing between
similar sounding words can also be hard work for students. Most terminal
consonants in Cantonese words are semi-silent or resemble glottal stops,
a pattern which is maintained when Cantonese speakers speak English.
Also, as Cantonese is tonal, it does not make use of stress and intonation
to support meaning at sentence level in quite the same way as English.
Even the Chinese concept of what constitutes a word is different from
that in English; the Chinese language has no word for “word”
distinct from the word for “character” even though Chinese
monosyllabic characters usually have to be combined into pairs to form
what English speakers would think of as a single word.
Because English is so different from Chinese, if you are in a Band One
school you will probably find that whereas your junior students cope
very easily with the simpler tasks you assign to them, senior students
find it hard to make the transition to writing extensive formal prose
which is expected of them in the Advanced level exam. As there is such
a leap between what is expected of students in Form Five and what is
expected of them in Form Six, it is easy to be misled into thinking
that students in Form Six are less fluent than their counterparts in
Form Five.
In lower band and non-banded schools you will find a totally different
situation. Often students in these schools will be aware that they stand
no chance of passing formal exams in the subject and will not see English
as having any relevance to their own future needs, so they will be indifferent
or hostile to the idea of learning. In the very worst cases, NETs have
had to cope with classes in which most students do not know the alphabet,
find it hard to cope with even very elementary English and have little
interest in anything in English except for swear words. Obviously in
these cases the need to establish authority, build trust with students
and tailor the curriculum to meet their needs is paramount and probably
easier said than done. Support is available for teachers in these difficult
situations, but when your students have very little English the most
important thing is to build relationships with your local colleagues.
What is life like for
teenagers in Hong Kong?
Hong Kong has an extremely wide disparity in income between the richest
and the poorest sections of the community, so that while the top 20%
of the population enjoy a standard of living that easily rivals that
of middle class Europeans and North Americans, the bottom 20% of the
population live in near third-world conditions. It is little wonder,
therefore, that many people in Hong Kong highly value education as a
means towards attaining success in exams and ultimately securing social
advancement.
Hong Kong is currently recovering from the long-term effects of the
Asian economic crisis. Unemployment rates are finally falling, the asset
and price deflation which adversely affected business confidence for
so long now seems to be a thing of the past, and many people who had
to accept wage cuts and home owners who saw the value of their property
slump between 1997 and 2003 are at last getting pay rises and escaping
from negative equity. Teenagers are keenly aware of these issues.
Parents often have to work long hours so some students have little contact
with their parents and do not receive the guidance and support that
they need. The children of migrants from the mainland are often particularly
isolated from their parents; there are many cases of children living
with one parent while the other parent has to stay on the mainland waiting
for an exit permit.
About half of the population of Hong Kong lives in public housing, most
of which is extremely crowded and in a poor state of repair. It is not
unusual for a family of six to have to share a 400 sq. foot flat. This
overcrowding has an adverse effect on students' studies as in such crowded
conditions it is often impossible for students to find a quiet place
at home where they can do their schoolwork. Some public housing estates
are particularly targeted by triads and there are some areas of Hong
Kong where drug abuse and prostitution are widespread. Obviously, living
in close proximity to crime adversely affects young people's education.
Hong Kong is a culturally complex society where the traditional Chinese
religions - Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism - coexist with increasingly
popular Christianity and there are also sizeable Muslim and Sikh communities,
but the most pervasive value system in modern Hong Kong is secular materialism.
The complexity of Hong Kong's cultures and Hong Kong's confusing status
as a Special Autonomous Region have left many teenagers feeling confused
about their values and uncertain as to where their loyalties should
lie. In Hong Kong it is not unusual for people to shift between cultural
loyalties depending on the circumstances. You may find for example that
your students hold the opinion that problems such as drug addiction
or sexually transmitted diseases are 'western' problems that could be
prevented in Hong Kong if people were to adhere more closely to traditional
Chinese values, but you are just as likely to hear Hong Kongers criticizing
the supposed 'backwardness' of mainland China. Many people in Hong Kong
hold simplistic views about Chinese cultural and racial superiority
but at the same time aspire to an American lifestyle.
Popular culture in Hong Kong is fast moving, dominated by brief fads,
eclectic, highly gender-based and at times may seem infantile to an
outsider. Trends come and go very quickly. Teenage girls and even young
adult women often have an affection for stuffed toys and cartoon characters
that would surprise their peers in the west. Teenage boys and even many
male adults seem to be fascinated by comic books, which are often violent
or sexually explicit. Many boys are enthusiastic followers of NBA basketball,
while British league football seems to have attracted a large female
audience. Many people seem to have a morbid curiosity about the personal
lives of film-stars and pop singers. Chinese- language network television
in Hong Kong is dominated by tabloid style magazine programmes, soap
operas and, especially, period costume dramas.
.