| This
is the biweekly bulletin of the Rotary Club of Kingspark Hong Kong Club Website: http://www.rotary3450.org/kingspark-hongkong | ||||
 | Kingspark News Rotary
Club of Kingspark | | ||
| Chief
Editor : Francis Wann Club Webmaster : John Wan | ||||
Editorial
(The Politics of Education) - By Francis Wann | ||||
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The Politics of Education
Apparently he's seen his allies drifting away in the midst of political undercurrents of the much debated education reform. Apart from Education Secretary Professor Authur Li and Permanent Secretary Fanny Law, he doesn't seem to have support from the teaching profession. Professional education bodies of aided and subsidized school councils, pressure groups, teachers' unions, academics, the church, and stakeholders of various interest groups all have reservations. And Mr Tien has extended the consultation period until July 2. When Mr Tien mentioned the groups' argument that they believed "that mother tongue is the most effective MOI for all students. Learning through a second language inevitably creates language barriers, the kind and content may vary from student to student...", probably nobody would dispute that. But then the document went on to discuss the mechanics and psychology of language learning. It said for the majority of students, "the key to enhancing their English proficiency lies in the teaching and learning of the language (language education), and not necessarily in using the language as the MOI (language in education). Well, different points of view, you may think. What is most threatening to existing EMI schools is the proposal that for them to remain Englsih medium schools, an EMI class should have at least 85% of its students being EMI-capable,... and EMI schools should have at least 85% of its S1 intake being EMI-capable". This requirement alone would mean the death knell for many existing English medium schools. Schools which are in the process of linking or merging, and schools which offer feeder primaries or through-train systems have to think twice. Plans to expand are being put on hold when fates are still uncertain. And if that's not enough, the document also made specific recommendations for teachers' language capability in EMI schools, and before the new term begins this September, they have to make sure all requirements are met, or else. Everyone knows the importance of English, and naturally the convenience of mother tongue, but the move to improve our language standards need not be met with such hostility. When the Government first implemented the Benchmark test - now called proficiency requirement - it should have realised what damage it'd have done to the teaching profession, and to the trust between the them. What is ironic is to see academics making comments on English standards. In a forum on medium of instruction last month, Dr Steven Andrews of University of Hong Kong claimed that policies to improve English could be "severely undermined" by teachers' lack of confidence, which he blamed on the fact they were being "bashed" by negative publicity. What they should do instead is to speak collectively against government intervention and refuse to cooperate in policies not justified such as benchmark tests. Such is our education reform. | ||||
President's
Column
Being a committed Rotarian, your contribution is also recognized by Rotary International because RI President Glenn Estess has recognized our Club with the RI Significant Achievement Award because of our excellent projects especially our Vocational Services Seminar. Besides, we are also recognized for the forming of a Twin Club with Rotary Club of Canberra of Sunrise Australia. Please attend our regular luncheon meeting and you will see the extraordinary Centennial badge from RI. Time flies and we are approaching the end of this Rotary year. This means that I shall write to you in the capacity of Club President for only 3 more issues in our Kingsparks News (including this one). I think most of you will agree with me that to write an article bi-weekly is a challenging job. But nonetheless, I have almost completed the task! Although the quality of my article is not comparable with our CP John Wan, I hope you enjoy reading it which comes from an ordinary Rotarian. I always believe that if I can complete the task, you can complete it! Let me once again appeal to you to write articles in Kingsparks News because we want to share your feelings and experience. I also remember that I have advised you to get prepared because time will not wait for us. My year is nearly finished and yours are going to start. I shall be part of our Club's history but you are the one to create our future. Please get ready because your day will come soon. It will be a wonderful experience to work with a team of committed Board members and be the leader of a group of professionals who are aimed to make our Community, Hong Kong and the World a better place to live. Since there is no "perfect time" that you will be ready for leading our Club, I would suggest you to make a draft plan because you will be our leader in the future. As per my message sent to you recently, we need your continuous support because we still have several important coming up events such as the Intercity Meeting in honour of Rotary Foundation Chairman Carlo Ravizza, Rotary Centennial Service Award for Professional Excellence award presentation banquet and formal visit to our Sister Club "Rotary Club of Taipei Chung Yuan" together with "Rotary Club of Sathorn Thailand". Last but not least, our Board has also agreed to conduct our Club Installation in the evening of Thursday 7 July 2005. Please mark your diary and we shall provide you further information soon. | ||||
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More on Service
But life must go on and let us move on. There were quite a few obligatory speeches at our Anniversary Dinner. I won't say which one impressed me most, but I recall speaker after speakers went to great lengths to thank individuals. Then we have our President Thomas in his usual modesty making another plea in his Column urging members to write for the club bulletin. Rotary being an institution, one should always bear in mind that it is the collective wisdom, efforts and experience of generations of Rotarians working quietly and selflessly over time that has made Rotary the great organization it is today. Individuals are great, but they come and go. In the end, it is that one idea of one person that has kept many other service-minded individuals going, and in the process, refined, developed and perfected Rotary's Ideal of Service. It follows that we should refrain from heaping honors on individuals too much. After all, no one single person is indispensible. I hasten to add that I am not against awarding recognition to individuals. On the contrary, I believe in giving recognition where it is due, properly and adequately. One problem with singling out individuals for recognition, however, is that it would inevitably lead to comparisions, often invidious, between people. We are only too familiar with the situation where people often lament that their successors could not match theirs, often in more than one way. To these people, I would remind them not to measure the contributions of individuals in real terms, but rather try to measure how much of what those individuals have that they have contributed. This can be illustrated thus: a rich man giving $1 million to charity would proabably be using only a fraction of one percent of his wealth, but his poor cousin with only $100 to his name would be giving his all if he gives $100 to charity. We are an association of volunteers. We volunteer our time and service, hopefully unconditionally. At the end of the day, whatever we do would be recorded by our God and Creator who would be the only and final judge of the good or evil deeds we do on Earth. On Judgement Day, membership of a Rotary club would probably not get one anywhere, but a life of service would. Finally, to the Catholics, I hope you have had a wonderful Pentecost Sunday and that you Have been suitably enlightened by the Holy Spirit. | ||||
Views in any article in Kingspark News reflect those of the authors. They are not necessarily the views of the Rotary Club of Kingspark or of District 3450. You are welcome to write to Chief Editor Francis Wann or Club Webmaster John Wan on any topic, particularly in response to articles published in Kingspark News. We would publish all contributions as long as the authors identify themselves, the contents are not offensive or abusive, and would not offend common decency or common sense. You need not be a Rotarian to write to us and you have a choice to withhold your name in the published version. Where the contents make reference to statements or policies of individuals or organizations, we would try to obtain a response from the latter for publication in the same issue if possible. | ||||
Chief
Editor : Francis Wann The Board of Directors President
: Thomas Chan | ||||
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