Hong Kong is considered as one of the countries with a competitive education system. According to the PISA result in 2009, the country outmatched almost every other nation. It ranked fourth in reading and third in both mathematics and science. In the year 2015, Hong Kong students ranked second in the world in reading and mathematics and ninth in science. And Last 2018, Hong Kong students ranked fourth in both reading and mathematics and eight in science. Hong Kong schools are a composite result of British and Chinese legacy.
The development of the Hong Kong education system was due to the failure of their education system stated in history. As the result, the government has undertaken a comprehensive public conversation regarding the goals of the Hong Kong education system and studied education in different other countries. The structure of the system has changed at the beginning of 2009. The government has ensured that Hong Kong has educators with the proficiency and skills to educate students to attain their goals by implementing reforms to teacher and school leader training.
However, as the education system becomes competitive, the negative impact on student's lives rises as well. It resulted in a deterioration in their mental health, exhaustion on their mind and body, stealing the supposedly happy childhood memory that leads to inflation of student's suicidal rate. The "Tide of Student Suicide" started in the 2015-16 school year. Suicide cases have become more continual than before that draw awareness of the media. Suicidal factors include the Hong Kong education system along with the pressure and high expectations from families.
Based on dimsumdaily.hk, suicide cases report in Hong Kong, there are about 108 suicide cases between 20 and 29 years old: 32 suicide cases between the ages of 10 and 19, 1 case between the ages of 0 and 9 years old. The number of cases inflated by 4 and 1 respectively last year.
Negative Impact of Hong Kong Education System on Students
Schools, parents, and students become oriented towards achieving good academic results, and this lays tremendous pressure on students to maintain academic excellence due to their beliefs 'academic results determines the future'. In a highly competitive education environment, students have long study hours and heavy workloads. Students have to do 7 to 10 hours of homework daily, and 23 homework assignments have been issued during the holidays. Although official school hours are on average 6-8 hours a day, however, the real studying time started after school.
Apart from doing school homework, students still need to attend private classes and other learning activities. The shadow education also known as private supplementary tutoring has become mainstream in Hong Kong. Parents' believe that shadow education as a great opportunity for their children to achieve an excellent academic result. As early as kindergarten, students are attending up to three private classes in different learning centers, especially for Chinese, English, and Math subjects.
And at home, they still have private tutorials for the same subjects. Therefore, students need to do homework for both school and private classes. Hong Kong parents and students see succession as their only way out but disregarding their happiness and interests. As the result, students easily get stressed when they do not get well in their academics.
And according to Mr. Eddie Ng Hak-Kim, the Secretary for Education, he illustrated the report of the Suicide Prevention Committee on October 14, 2016, explaining that the suicide of college students arose from the lack of career planning. Nowadays, students are not able to handle their pressure and give up their life easily.
Extracurricular Activities
Doing school homework isn't the only responsibility that students need to take after school. Extracurricular activities are supposedly leisure activities following one's interests. But in Hong Kong, it has a different meaning. After school, there is also a list of extracurricular activities that students need to fulfill. Parents often enrolled their kids at music lessons, whether piano, violin, and others, and every year there is a music examination. Most of the students here in Hong Kong have at least one music instrument lesson.
Some parents registered their kids in tennis, football, swimming, ballet, and other extracurricular activities. And being in a competitive environment, one or two languages isn't enough. Some parents still want to enroll their kids in foreign learning centers to study French and other foreign languages. Parents thought that these kinds of activities will increase the competitiveness and skills of their kids. Moreover, extracurricular activities have big factors in applying for Hong Kong's higher education.
Family Pressure
Hong Kong students are not only stressed because of heavy workloads, but also because of pushy and demanding parents. When academic results don't meet parents' expectations, the tension will arise between children and parents which then also leads to miscommunication. According to a survey conducted by Hok Yau Club (an NGO that provides support and guidance to local students), the results revealed that parental pressure is the main cause of their anxiety and academic performance.
If the school is competitive, the parents are doing the same as well. They want to see their children perform well in everything – such as music, sports, and other activities - to be an outstanding adult in the future. One of the expressions in Hong Kong is 'an excellent student has excellent parents'. Due to this belief, parents tend to compete with each other. And many parents want their children to achieve what they had failed to fulfill when they were young.
Punishing children for having poor academic performance is a common approach of parents. But sometimes, harsh verbal discipline is worst than physical punishment. If a child feels humiliated, it can cause more harm and invisible permanent damage. Some parents believe since they have brought their children into this world, they, therefore, have the right to discipline them in whichever way they want. This belief leads to parental violence and it is a fear that stays with children for the rest of their lives.
Take Colette, a 13-year-old secondary student of Diocesan Girl's School Hong Kong with a full schedule every day. After class, she will attend private classes for different subjects such as Chinese, English, and Math according to her schedule, and music lesson once a week. When she got home, she will start doing homework for both school and private classes and usually finished at midnight. And sometimes, private tutors will come at home to teach her the same subjects respectively. At weekend, the same routine happens. As she wakes up, she will do homework then attend private classes even on Sundays. She has a total of 6 extra classes: 3 private classes for Chinese, English and Math, then another 3 private tutorials for the same subjects. Additionally, she is also attending violin lesson and French class. She seldom had time for leisure, only her phone is the only thing that makes her happy, through watching videos or reading her favorite stories online. However, once her mother caught her playing phone and not doing homework, her mother will scold her which sometimes leads to misunderstanding followed by quarrelling and shouting. As a student of top 1 school in Hong Kong, she is always pressured by both her mother, school, and private classes.
What did the Hong Kong government do to de-escalate this issue?
"The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government provided five major measures to help students in September 2016.
The five major measures are as follows:
• Firstly, Set up a task force to comprehensively understand the causes of suicide analysis and propose prevention methods.
• Secondly, hold five regional seminars to arrange educational psychologists and student counseling professionals to introduce methods for preventing suicide and discriminating students with problems;
• Thirdly, Organizing teacher lectures to teach methods and related support for identifying problematic students;
• Fourthly. Establishing a dedicated team within the bureau to invite educational psychologists and counselors to provide support to schools with special needs;
• Finally, Schools, parents with the students as the object, make a small knowledge kit."
The government also allocated educational funds of up to $200,000 to support schools and organize the "Good Mood @ School" program that promotes mental health and raise students' awareness of mental health in schools.
The Samaritan in Hong Kong, a non-profit group also provides emotional support to people who are suicidal or are in general distress. Samaritan believes that everyone has the right to control destiny – including ending lives and have the will to decline things that are out of interest. They will provide emotional support for whoever unconditionally.
The Suicide Prevention Services is a volunteer service agency in Hong Kong that provides counseling services for people who are suicidal, desperate, and having emotional problems. The goal for Suicide prevention Services is raising widespread awareness of suicide and providing methods in which it can be effectively dealt with.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Hong_Kong
It shows that family pressure is a big factor in Hong Kong student's suicidal rate. We know that life is a struggle and a real competition regardless of age and status, however, kids should live as kids. They shouldn't be forced to do things involuntarily and compete constantly. A goal for a good future for children shouldn't be the reason to pressure the children and stress their minds. The punishments that have done 'out of love', or 'for their own good' is an absurd excuse.
Parental spirited support is far more beneficial in a child’s growth. We admit that children do need discipline, but it should be equalized with approbation, appreciation, and affection. Instead of bombarding harsh words to children or punishing them once they get low grades, parents should encourage their children to study hard in a more beneficial way. Parents should be the source of supports for kids who are going through a hard time in school and not an additional source of stress. If parents want their children to be happy and successful in the future, then they should take what is important without compromising their children's happiness and health.
Sources:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_Hong_Kong
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.dw.com/en/why-are-hong-kong-students-committing-suicide/a-38414311
Even in other asian countries it's like that since in asia, education and licenses wre apparently everything. I can imagine that if sime asian countries weren't belonging to the developing country class, the same thing would happen, really