education in Hong Kong

Education in Hong Kong has a similar system to that of the United Kingdom , in particular the English education system of Hong Kong was modernised by the British in 1861. The system can be described as extremely competitive by global standards.British system before 1960Length Education typeType4 years First school4 years Secondary-middle school 3 + 2 yearsSecondary-high schoolBritish system after 1960Length Education typeType6 years Primary school 5 + 2 yearsSecondary schoolBritish system after 1971Length Education type Type6 years Primary education compulsory government funded as of 19713 years Secondary education compulsory government funded as of 1978 2 + 2 yearsSecondary schoolselectiveCurrent 2007 formatLength Education typeAdditionalnames Type Focus School year 3 years Kindergartenvoluntary GeneralSept - June6 yearsPrimary educationPrimary 1, Primary 2, Primary 3,Primary 4, Primary 5, Primary 6compulsory GeneralSept - July3 yearsSecondaryeducation Form 1, Form 2, Form 3 compulsory General Sept - July2 yearsSenior Secondary(leads to HKCEE )Form 4, Form 5selective Specialised Sept - July(Form 4),Sept -April (Form 5) 2 yearsMatriculation Course (leads to HKALE ) Form 6(Lower Six)Form 7 (UpperSix) selective, performance based Specialised Sept - July(Form 6), Sept - February/March(Form 7)Depends on subject Tertiary education(leads to bachelors , masters andother academic degrees ) selective Specialised VariesThe mainstream education system in Hong Kong has often been described as"spoon-fed" (Chinese : 填鴨式教育). Cram schools in Hong Kong have also become a popular standard in parallel to regular education. A heavy emphasis is placed on the Ranking systems at an early age. Competition among students is fierce, since job and advanced-school placements are rigorously filtered by rank results.Practically all school students in Hong Kong wear uniforms . Common restrictions include strict dress codes, behaviours, and what items one can carry to school. School types:Type Category DescriptionGovernment schools ComprehensiveSubsidised schoolsComprehensiveMost common, run by charitable and religious(Christian , Buddhist, Taoist, TWGHs andothers) organisations with government funding.Direct SubsidyScheme (DSS) schoolsPrivateRun by various non-government organisations. HKSAR Government has encouraged non-government primary and secondary schools which have attained a sufficiently high educational standard to join the DSS by providing subsidies in order to enhance the quality of private school education since 1991/92 school year. Under the scheme, schools are free to decide on theircurriculum, fees and entrance requirements. Private schoolsPrivateRun by various private organisations.Admissions are based more on academic merit than on financial ability.Privateinternational schools Private Provide an alternative to the high-pressured mainstream education, in exchange for much higher tuition fees.English Schools FoundationSubsidisedProvide an alternative to the high-pressured mainstream education. However the tuition fees are lower than many other international schools as many ESF schools enjoy subvention by the Hong Kong Government .1.The early education in Hong Kong includes: Pre-school / nursery / kindergarten education Primary education Secondary education International education2.Higher education in Hong Kong is kind of : Tertiary educationWith 8 universities and several other tertiary institutions in just one city, tertiary education plays a key role in the education system. Of the 36,660 students who attended the HKALE in 2003, 18,049 (49.2%) of them fulfilled their general entry requirement to their respective university, usually a pass in Chinese Language and Culture and Use of English, plus another two A-level subjects (or one A-level subject and two AS-level subjects). Students who sit for the HKALE first time have a success rate of 75.8%. There are 19 different Advanced Level and 20 different AS-level subjects available.[11]The cost of undergraduate, full-degree, full-time programmes tend to be around HK$40,000 - 50,000 a year, with the cost being higher for engineering and medical students. The reason for this relatively low cost is due to heavy government subsidisation. Being an international city, Hong Kong's tertiary institutions attract many foreign exchange students from US, UK, Switzerland, Canada, Italy, Singapore to name a few.Vocational and post-secondary education.Commerce stream in secondary schools are considered vocational in nature. Students in the Commerce stream would usually enter the workplace to gain practical work experience by this point. Further education pursuit in Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education or universities abroad are common. The Manpower Development Committee (MDC) advices the government on coordination, regulation and promotion of the sector. In addition, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) ensures the level of standard is met through the "Apprentice Ordinance". The VTC also operate threeskills-centres for people with disabilities.HKU is the one of the best university in Hong Kong or even in the whole China. The University of Hong Kong (or HKU, traditional Chinese: 香港大學) is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Its motto is "Sapientia et Virtus" in Latin, meaning "wisdom and virtue", and "明德格物" in Chinese. The official language of instruction is English.The University is referred by Quacquarelli Symonds as a "world-class comprehensive research university"[2]. In 2010, it was ranked 23rd in the QS World University Rankings[3] and 1st in their Asian University Rankings.[4] In another rankings, the 2010-2011 Times Higher Education World University Rankings cooperating with Thomson Reuters as the new data supplier since 2010, the university was ranked 21st[5] in the world and 1st[6] in asia.。