Abstract
It is important for us to be on the same page from the outset of our discourse. Thus, I will make clear who and what are included in this chapter. The primary subsets of the population included in this discourse of education for all in Hong Kong are school-age children (up to the completion of secondary education) with disabilities and persons from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Hong Kong’s journey is closely tied to its historical and political past as a British colony. As such, this chapter begins with an examination and analysis of Hong Kong’s policy development in education as a British colony and examines legislation and policies toward education equity for the above subgroups of the population before July 1997. This is followed by a critical review and analysis of the change after the handover of sovereignty to the Chinese government when the implementation of the inclusive education policy officially began. The persistent challenges caused by the elite-oriented education system and social demands in Hong Kong’s struggle toward education for all permeate the discourse. Finally, this chapter stresses the importance of understanding issues regarding difficulties in distinguishing and assessing certain disabilities (e.g. language-related disabilities) from difficulties due to cultural and linguistic diversity. This would aid the move toward education equity in Hong Kong, a vital and multicultural gateway to China, Asia, and beyond (Hong Kong Government, Brand Hong Kong. Retrieved from http://www.brandhk.gov.hk/en/#/en/about/development/launch.html, 2014a).
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Notes
- 1.
Government-aided schools are fully funded by the government but were initially established by non-profit religious or charitable organisations.
- 2.
‘Grammar’ schools adopt the central curriculum, and students with satisfactory academic performance were streamed into grammar schools, while students with less than satisfactory academic performance were streamed into technical schools where the curriculum had a stronger training component of technical skills for semi-skilled occupations such as auto-mechanics.
- 3.
Returnees refer to those who are originally from Hong Kong, have emigrated to other countries, and have returned with their children to reside in Hong Kong. Their children are frequently non-Chinese speaking or with limited proficiency in the Chinese language.
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Poon-Mcbrayer, K.F. (2019). Hong Kong’s Journey Toward Equity in the Era of Appropriate Education for All. In: Teng, S.S., Manzon, M., Poon, K.K. (eds) Equity in Excellence. Education Innovation Series. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-2975-3_5
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