The use of Cantonese and English in secondary schools poses the biggest challenge academically for children of mainland Chinese talent who have settled in Hong Kong, education authorities have said.
The Education Bureau also said it was willing to look into building hostels at some semi-private schools, after a lawmaker asked whether the government could offer boarding facilities for the children of talent who might have to frequently travel back to mainland China.
Undersecretary for Education Jeff Sze Chun-fai said on Monday that authorities had been trying to find out from secondary schools how children were adapting after settling in Hong Kong with parents who had arrived through various talent schemes.
“We know their biggest problem is the language issue,” he told a meeting of a Legislative Council subcommittee discussing education support for children of new migrant talent.
“As for students from the mainland, they do not know Cantonese well and they also learned simplified Chinese in the past, while they now have to use traditional Chinese in Hong Kong.
“We learned from school principals that more students [from the mainland] face some challenges in learning English.”
