標題：
Divided we fail
報章：Dr. Raees Baig, Manager of Centre for Social Impact, HKCSS (SCMP)
Our government says that it wants a fair and harmonious society in Hong Kong, including the elimination of race discrimination. Most of us would agree that equal opportunity and recognition of personal talent and effort not only improve social stability but help this city achieve its full economic potential as well. These are fine principles. But how are we doing in practice?
Racial harmony is more than just celebrating festivals of different racial groups or eating ethnic food. It is about whether people of different racial groups can enjoy equal opportunities in all aspects of life. After years of debate, the Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO) took effect in mid-2009 and according to the Equal Opportunities Commission, there were 39 complaints for investigation in the first eight months of the law.
Feedback from non-governmental organisations suggests that discriminatory practices have not gone down since enactment of the RDO. What is most troubling, perhaps, is that discriminatory practices are still found in government policy, especially in education and the recruitment of civil servants.
This is a major concern. Education for the individual in a knowledge-based society is the key to securing a decent job and livelihood. From the community’s perspective, it is an essential investment in human capital and social development. However, ethnic minority children are being marginalised in our education system. Non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students in public schools are either being segregated in designated schools or have to struggle in mainstream subsidized schools without sufficient support for learning Chinese. They are further excluded from higher education by Chinese literacy requirements – a barrier many are unable to fulfil.
The Education Bureau allocates special annual grants of HK$300,000-600,000 to 28 designated ethnic minority primary and secondary schools. Yet there is no monitoring mechanism on how the schools spend the grant; indeed, the definition of “designated school” is vague. In 2008, 19 primary and secondary schools with more than 30 ethnic minority students each were still not classified as designated schools. That amounts to thousands of NCS students left without support.
Teachers of NCS students face a serious lack of suitable Chinese textbooks, and the current Chinese language curriculum is unsuitable for NCS students. The Government has lobbied local universities to recognise the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Chinese language results for admissions purposes, which is easier than the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination. Unfortunately, the GCSE Chinese language examination is not widely accepted; prior to this year, the application fee was five times higher than for the HKDSE, made it unaffordable for many ethnic minority families. As a result, the university admission rate for NCS students is below 3%, compared with 15-18% for their Chinese counterparts. In 2010, the Government finally agreed to adjust the application fee for GCSE on par the HKDSE level for those eligible candidates, it is hoped that more students could be benefited from the adjustment.
Education is a basic right of every young person and a crucial means to upward social mobility; a barrier to education is a form of discrimination. For NCS students to reach higher education and get better jobs, NCS students need a more dedicated Chinese language curriculum that is recognisable by the general public. We need a “Chinese as a Second Language” policy.
Where civil service jobs are concerned, Chinese language proficiency requirements have been made to ugher since the days leading up to 1997. The Government says this is crucial because of increasing Chinese language usage in both internal and external communications. It is unclear how much these requirement are really needed; although they vary according to seniority of the post, some Chinese requirement applies to all posts regardless of work nature and duties. The effect has been to greatly reduce the chances of ethnic minorities entering the civil service.
According to the RDO, indirect discrimination may occur when a job requirement posted has put a certain racial group at a disadvantage. By imposing a universal language requirement without taking into account specific circumstances for each job, the Government may indeed have committed indirect discrimination and violated the spirit of the RDO. The Government should abide by its own laws anyway. As Hong Kong’s largest employer, it should also set an example to the private sector in creating a more inclusive employment environment.
A growing “Chineseness” in our society after the handover has placed certain ethnic groups at a disadvantage. The increasing use of Chinese language in both the Government and the private sector has had the effect of barring ethnic minorities from education and job opportunities. It has also made it harder for them to access information and participate in political discussion. To create a fair and harmonious society, the government needs to make it an inclusive one.
「寫情寫理」捕捉社會點滴，讓關心香港的人 -- 無論從事社會服務或其他界別的 -- 有更多反思和討論。歡迎讀者將閱後感透過電郵ഀ 7;我們分享。
