Is our government doing enough for ethnic minority children?
Ethnic minorities petition outside Central Government Offices (CGO) at Tamar calling for an end to "discriminatory" Chinese education policy. The government needs to make sure that ethnic minority children are given places in kindergarten. If minorities can't find places for their children because they don't speak Chinese, the relationship between Hongkongers and these minorities will be harmed. They might not feel very loyal to Hong Kong after being treated this way.
This affects our social harmony as one particular group of people are singled out. If they cannot go to kindergarten, they will struggle in primary school and then secondary school, and eventually end up poor because they don't get the education many could have had if the schools had taught them Chinese.
Most of the kindergartens under the government voucher scheme give out information only in Chinese and don't teach them Chinese. But it shows that their teachers are not good enough, because they are unable to teach children who really have no prior learning.
The government says it has fulfilled its duties in this matter. I don't agree.
Fong Hei-man, The Chinese Foundation Secondary School
From the Editor
Thank you for your letter, Hei-man. There seems to be a large gap between what the government thinks is happening and what is really going on as far as education is concerned.
Treating ethnic minorities in this manner is a kind of apartheid, which is a racial separatism and bad treatment that South Africa practised for many years.
The point is, these parents are living and working and paying taxes in Hong Kong. If they are permanent residents, they should enjoy the same benefits that every Hong Kong citizen does. If they don't, you are right: they will have the feeling that they are somehow inferior, and who would want to be loyal to a place that makes you feel that way?
Susan, editor