18 July 2013 - The Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong organized an education forum on July 11 at the Consulate premises to inform parents on the measures currently being undertaken by the Hong Kong government to support non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students.

The guest speaker was Ms. Chan Siu Suk-fan, Senior Education Officer (Education Commission) of the Hong Kong Education Bureau.

Topics discussed included the statistics on Filipino student population in Hong Kong public schools [7,900 primary (16% Filipino) and 6,900 secondary (19% Filipino) NCS students]; the Pre-Primary Education Voucher Scheme, a government subsidy program for kindergarten students; the School Places Allocation System; the EDB’s plan to subsidize schools who take in 10 or more NCS students (worth HK$300,000 to HK$600,000); and after-school support programs to help students master the Chinese language.

To allay fears of some members of the Filipino community that most Filipino students encounter difficulties with the Chinese component of their examinations, Ms. Chan reiterated that students can choose among different Chinese proficiency examinations, which are all recognized by the various Hong Kong universities as a means for admission.

Ms. Chan also noted that 50 ethnic minority students qualified into the university system last year, but she had no data on how many Filipinos qualified. END