I. Anaysis Of Current Situations
The current conditions of education in Hong Kong are most intricate and complex. We shall first attempt a brief analysis of the social environment and youth problems. We shall then examine schools’ general negligence of Chinese culture and make a summary scrutiny of the shortcomings in Catholic educational undertakings.
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- Social Environment
- Perplexities Bedeviling The Youth
- Inadequacy in Promoting Chinese Culture
- Religious Formation in Schools
- Pre-school And Adult Education
- Catholic University And Community Colleges
Recent decades have witnessed Hong Kong’s enormous achievements in commerce and industry as well as material development. But the social environment and moral standards in the territory have been deteriorating. In the process of its urbanization and commercialization, rampant utilitarianism and the fad of seeking material comforts are not without influence on parents’ and teachers’ conceptualization of values. Many parents consider providing their children with material comforts or necessities of life to be what the fulfillment of parental duty is all about. On their part, many teachers confine their efforts to imparting knowledge and skills for making a living, and would have very little to do with genuine education and character formation. Greed for monetary gains has led producers to flood the Hong Kong market with sex and violence movies and publications. Moral decadence led many youths and teenagers to go astray. In order to improve the social milieu in Hong Kong, there is a definite need to spare no efforts in promoting moral education in Hong Kong.
Youths will be the pillars of society. In our lively and energetic community, many youths are praiseworthy in their academic and group activities. However, there are also many youths who are struggling with all sorts of perplexities.
Children begin to receive education at the age of three, which is the beginning of lifelong learning. If educators teach without understanding children’s needs, they cannot achieve the objectives of education. Among youngsters of the schooling age, those in the primary and secondary schools are most likely to suffer from perplexities. Hence, it has become an important educational objective of Catholic schools to help such students solve the perplexities they face.
As the younger generation is the target of education, educators who fail to understand the needs of the youth will also fail to achieve the goals of education. For this reason, it has become an important objective of education to help solve the predicaments which are being faced by young people.
Today’s young people are confronted not by a simple society, but by an environment full of temptations. Furthermore, the development of school education does not synchronize with that of society and the blow to students’ psychological and mental growth cannot be neglected. Under the spell of modern trends, many young people have become intoxicated by an illusory world. Charmed with unhealthy ideas, many blindly go after love and passion, peer recognition, violent inclinations, materialistic worship and fetishism, at the expense of search for true living or a correct outlook on life. In the past, such phenomena occurred mostly to secondary school students, but nowadays, they happen to children in the upper primary classes, thus making counseling also an onerous task in primary schools.
When they experience feelings of affection, many young people lack communication skills and do not know how to express themselves. Egged on by the media, some young people turn to enchanting affection, which is by no means easy to come by. When confronted with difficulties, they do not know where to turn to unbosom themselves. Some students mistake sex for love and indulge themselves, which harms both their body and soul.
It is quite common for both parents to work outside. Under the pressure of their own work, they have less time to communicate with their children or to keep them company. Thus the lack of communication between young people and their family has become an issue that deserves our close attention. Some parents try to use material things to fill the inner emptiness of their children. This constitutes a deficiency in the children’s growing process, making it difficult for them to strike a normal balance between their parents’ love and concern on the one hand and the inclination towards materialistic values on the other. Because they work outside, parents have less time to share with their children than was formerly the case. On their part, young people need to cope with their studies and assignments, and when confronted with the impact of different values, they do not know how to share views with other members of their family. Owing to lack of communication between parents and children as well as differences in concepts of values and in living experiences, when young people come across problems in studies and assignments, and those resulting from clashes of different concepts of values, they do not know how to share their problems with their own family, instead, they turn to their peers for help. Yet, their peers have only limited experiences in life, and more often than not, provide the wrong kind of advice. This has been the source of numerous problems. There are many such cases in church schools. Teachers who can barely cope with their heavy workload find it beyond their ability to deal with problems of students’ character formation.
In front of rapid development of information technology, young people wallow in internet culture, making friends through the internet, ICQ and electronic games, but they are unable to make use of technology to help them in their search for spiritual values, traditional culture, and ethical and moral accomplishments. This will lead to an aftermath of social issues and problems.
What is more, under the influence of cartoons, many young people believe in using violence to solve problems, and try to emulate personalities in the cartoons. The vulgar language and the perverted and illusory protagonists in the cartoons affect the growth of youngsters. Such circumstances aggravate schools’ difficulties in promoting language studies and moral education.
Many schools have not given due attention to the invaluable elements in Chinese culture, nor have they guided school children to appreciate and identify themselves with where their “root” lies. This has resulted from several factors. Since the end of the l9th century, many Chinese intellectuals who are favourably disposed towards western civilization, have put the blame for China’s feudalism and backwardness on traditional Chinese culture with Confucianism as its backbone. The educational policy in the colonial period was biased towards introducing western civilization, science and technology; lay particular emphasis on the teaching of the English Language at the expense of Chinese; and strove to prepare young people for overseas studies and to produce civil servants and obedient citizens.
Then, the community’s process and urbanization and commercialization, many schools have put their emphasis on imparting knowledge and skills for making a living, to the detriment of character formation and cultural accomplishments. The situation has not changed for the better since the handover of the sovereignty of Hong Kong in l997. As Chinese culture is where Hong Kong people’s “root” lies, Catholic schools should promote the invaluable elements in Chinese culture and help students revive confidence in their own heritage. We should therefore make the promotion of Chinese culture one of the main emphases of our educational work.
A school should be a good place for evangelization a suitable milieu for the formation of faith. This is because the seeds of faith are brought to fruition by the importance which schools attach to the formation of faith as well as by the commitment of Catholic teachers and students. What is more, schools that have close links with parishes enjoy the additional benefit of parish support. However, the small percentages represented by Catholic teachers and students in their total numbers in the schools make it difficult to generate a religious atmosphere or a clear thrust in the formation of faith. The absence of pastoral workers in many schools hinders the provision of pastoral care.
The kinds of activities conducted in schools are not dissimilar from those organized by Small Christian communities. But they attract a cold response from some students. Are or are not the substance and modes of such activities incompatible with the needs of students? Do or do not students have preconceived ideas about religious activities being boring and of a routine nature?
Another phenomenon that gives one much food for thought concerns the responses which religious activities obtain from Catholic and non-Catholic students. Sometimes, non-Catholic students show a more positive response as well as greater zeal and commitment than Catholic students. By contrast, some Catholic students are more reserved and introvert, and attend activities in a perfunctory manner, thus without true participation. Those are usually students who were baptized at a much younger age. For lack of faith formation at home, their faith does not have a firm foundation. They labour under the impression of being compelled to join faith formation activities. Hence, they give a relatively cold response and adopt a more passive attitude.
A vast majority of schools have established at least one Catholic Students Society or some Christian communities. Such groups conduct periodical and rather frequent gatherings, with activities falling into such categories as “spiritual” (like retreats), “recreational” (like outings) and “concern for society” (like services). Relatively speaking, they seldom engage in imparting religious knowledge or assisting students with their personal growth. Basically, such groups are unable to exert influence in schools. Most students give preference to other extracurricular activity organizations.
In another perspective, coordination between schools and parishes is worth our attention. Students will sooner or later finish their studies and leave school. It is most important to make them proceed from schools’ Christian communities to those in the parish, where they can continue their journey of faith. It is therefore incumbent upon schools and parishes to set up networks to let youth pastoral care cater for the growth of the youth in an all-round manner. If pastoral workers in parishes can provide support to the faith formation activities in schools, it will facilitate students living and growing within their own parish after leaving school. Otherwise, their attrition rate might be fairly serious. In some cases, the relationship between schools and the parish is maintained just by the use of each other’s space or by inviting priests to say Mass, thereby resulting infrequent opportunities for “interaction” and also in a lack of contact between pastoral workers and students. Consequently, when students wish to learn catechism, they do not get a chance to do so because of lack of communication with the parish, which is of course a great pity!
The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong, some Religious Congregations and Caritas operate kindergartens with the mission of educating children with love and commitment in keeping with the Christian spirit. These kindergartens are able to keep up with the improvements of the times and meet the needs of society. They help children to learn in a cheerful and effective manner, by providing them with an all-round and balanced environment for learning, based on their developmental needs. This enables children to develop initiative in learning, looking for new knowledge, forming a positive and pro-active outlook of life, and laying a foundation for lifelong learning. Each kindergarten has its own style and its own devices to attract pupils. Parents are free to choose suitable kindergartens for their children.
In recent decades, the livelihood of Hong Kong people has undergone major changes. Their work requires substantial knowledge, but knowledge changes continuously. Everybody has to cope with different domains of knowledge, hence they need to learn all the time. In response to such circumstances, Caritas has, since l963, adopted adult education as one of its principal thrusts in the education field. Through the provision of various kinds of service, Caritas has constantly promoted lifelong learning and a general learning culture in the community. All along, Caritas has maintained an open access policy, thus providing those in need with first or second opportunities for education, with the aim of equipping them with literacy and working skills, helping enhance their academic qualifications. Apart from helping people to cope with their working needs, Caritas adult education also contributes to their personal development and social participation.
With a longer life expectancy, the population of Hong Kong is getting older. Often because of their lower level of education, elderly people experience difficulty in getting along with others. On their part, through long periods of lack of contact with society, housewives are unable to keep up with modern changes and lag behind their children who are receiving education. This has led to serious problems of generation gap. Owing to cultural differences, immigrants from the Chinese mainland find it difficult to integrate themselves into the local community. The contributions which Caritas has been making to improve the lot of these underprivileged groups are genuine endeavours to put into effect the spirit of the Gospel. If a dimension of the Catholic faith is introduced into its services, they will serve as even better witnesses to evangelization.
Furthermore, lifelong learning has become a new trend in Hong Kong. In response to this trend, the Diocese should establish community colleges with a flexible admission policy, so as to allow young students and working adults to pursue studies at their convenience and also serve as one of the best channels for entry to the above-mentioned Catholic University. (2)
