Cost of Education

Hong Kong Economic Journal, 9 September 2015

Asia Pacific Education Review, 2015

Direct subsidy scheme (DSS) schools are a product of Hong Kong's market-oriented educational reform, mirroring global reform that champions parental choice and school marketization. Such schools have greater autonomy in matters of curricula, staffing, and student admission. Although advocates of the DSS credit it with increasing educational diversity and competition, little empirical is available to back up such claim. In this study, we use data from the Program for International Student Assessment to compare student achievements in DSS schools with those in traditional public schools. We find that while DSS students' test scores in math, reading, and science have improved significantly over time, though the variation is much greater. Changes in mean performance have been anchored by a substantial change in student composition. DSS schools have a higher proportion of students with high socioeconomic status than with medium and low socioeconomic status. DSS schools also amplify the effects that family background have on student achievement. These findings raise concerns that the DSS approach favors a small minority of students.

International Journal of Education

This paper critically analyses the impact the New Senior Secondary (NSS) has had on Hong Kong through Phillips and Ochs’ four-stage model of policy borrowing in education. It argues that the Hong Kong government overlooked the fundamental contextual differences between the two curricula, and that this incompatibility has led to various challenges in integrating the NSS into the existing education system. This paper also contributes to the methodological literature on comparative education and theorisation of education borrowing by illustrating the importance of context. The monopolistic and generalisation assumptions in the positivist paradigm have misled many governments to reify statistics and uncritically transfer incompatible policies to their home countries; the case of the NSS in Hong Kong is an example of this. Although the interpretivist paradigm helps comparativists better understand local context, it is also important to be aware of the limitations of the analytical model used here. Phillips and Ochs’ model was developed based on observations of education borrowing between England and Germany, and it might not truly represent the situation in non-English speaking Asian countries. Also, the model was not specifically built for a capitalist economy, and, therefore, comparativists also need to be aware of the economic structure of the country they are studying, as this can greatly affect the aim of public education. Further study should incorporate literatures and models from Asian countries in order to make the analysis more relevant.

International Journal of Educational Development, 2018

The cost of higher education (HE) continues to grow at an unsustainable rate in many country contexts, including in East Asia. With recent and projected HE growth in this region, HE administrators are increasingly faced with how best to provide cost-effective delivery while at the same time addressing how to meet workforce demands of increased quality, accountability, and international standards of excellence. In this article, we examine good and best practices of HE finance models in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. A primary objective of this article is to highlight a select number of exemplary models of HE financing that can reduce or at least help level off this unsustainable trend. We conclude with recommendations to assist policy makers, government planners, and HE administrators in their attempts to meet the financial challenges of today and in the future.

South China Morning Post, 1 April 2015

This article refers to the case of the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) in Hong Kong to engage empirically in a debate over school choice. Based on a survey of 910 parents of primary school-leavers on their considerations in making school choices for their children, our analysis shows that DSS schools as an educational option are essentially exclusive to high-income parents, and that DSS schools are opted for as an alternative for the instrumental reason of having higher chances of getting into university rather than such claimed educational reasons as providing students with innovative design of curricula, pedagogies, and assessments.

2013

Conclusion References loans, resulting in part-time employment that leads to insufficient time and energy to their studies; or in the worst case scenario, to drop out from programmes because of rising debt loans. Therefore, an effective financial assistance scheme allows governments not just to pour money into the system, but ensure that the amount of money spent on education is used in the right way and in the hands of the students who are in need of them.

In order to increase the competitiveness of the workforce at low cost, the Hong Kong government brought in the idea of community colleges and the associate degree while keeping the same annual set quota of first-year, first-degree places at publicly-funded universities. At first glance, in doing so, the government could avoid expanding the sector of university education, which could eventually lead to credential inflation usually found in the West. However, the policy, perhaps unintentionally, boosts up students' educational aspiration: while a greater number of students obtain an associate degree, they do not take an associate degree as a final degree but demand a bachelor degree. This rising demand, then, leads to the emergence and subsequent expansion of the self-financing sector of university education. This Hong Kong experience demonstrates that it is perhaps a mission impossible, to let more people have a higher education while keeping the sector of higher education intact.

Developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a regular survey to assess the preparedness of 15-year-olds for adult life in over 40 countries/regions. Hong Kong joined PISA in 2000. This article introduces the background and framework of PISA and compares it with other international assessments that Hong Kong participated before. Then the accomplishment and challenges are identified. Overall, Hong Kong emerges as one of the top performing regions among 43 countries/regions in PISA. The performance of Hong Kong students ranks first in mathematics, third in science, and sixth in reading. Students, regardless of their socio-economic background, benefit from the education system. The achievement gap between the high achievers and low achievers is relatively low when compared to the OECD average. On the other hand, Hong Kong needs to address a number of challenges, including low self-concept, p...