It's a Hard Life - International Schools in Hong Kong

By: Laura Besley

If you think you had a hard time at school (and maybe you didn’t), you should give going to school in Hong Kong a try. A child’s first interview could be at the age of two-and-a-half to get into K1 (Kindergarten 1). If they fail to get into the right kindergarten, there will be more pressure on them to get into the right primary school. Then they will probably have another interview at five to get into Primary 1. If they don’t do well, and don’t get into the desired primary school, their life is effectively over. Or that’s what the adults around them will have them believe.

There is an inordinate amount of pressure on kids here to do well at school. Everything is about being the best. In class they are ranked and everyone always knows who is the best in the class, but also who is the worst. Alongside normal school hours kids will have afterschool classes, activities and, more often than not, tutors to help them with their homework. I teach at the British Council Hong Kong and afterschool hours, as well as Saturdays and Sundays, are packed with kids coming for extracurricular lessons.

In Hong Kong the local language is Cantonese. However, a lot of children at school will be taught in Mandarin and English. This has got to be one of the few places in the world where you are not taught in your mother tongue (if you are living in your country of origin). Most children will grow up speaking three languages and heaven help you if you’re not good at languages.

The most popular ‘local schools’ are bilingual schools. There are bilingual kindergartens, primary and secondary schools. They are banded A-D (A being the best). Once you are in a band it’s very difficult, in fact almost impossible, to move. There are also international schools and these are extremely hard to get into. I was speaking to a mother recently who had put her two-year old son on the list for the British International School and he was number 55. “Let’s just hope 54 kids move away in the next three years,” she said. “Otherwise I’m screwed!”

Once children have endured kindergarten and primary school, there is the challenge of high school and preparation for university. A lot of students will go abroad to university. America, Australia, Canada and England are the most popular places, for the obvious reason that they are English speaking countries. In the final year of high school pupils will take the HKDSE exams. These are taken in all subjects and what I know of the English paper, they are extremely difficult. The English paper consists of Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening & Integrated Skills. This paper is challenging for native speakers, let along if you are doing it in a foreign language.

I often feel sorry for the children that I teach. They often complain of being tired or having too much homework and they’re only four or five years old. It makes me really sad that they are not out playing at the weekend, but are in yet another classroom learning more things to store in their little brains.