No more elitism in education

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Samantha Borje, 17, Li Po Chun United World College
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Samantha Borje, 17, Li Po Chun United World College |
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This summer, I worked as an intern at the Kelly Yang Project, a private tutoring school, and I absolutely loved it. It got me thinking about education systems ...

These days, education is treated like a "commodity" that should be evenly split and distributed, regardless of socioeconomic background.

Hong Kong is not alone in proclaiming that tertiary education must take place in a school, and that a university degree best prepares one for a place in society. So what about vocational schools, which help one to gain skills in a specific field? Or internships, where young people are given direct exposure to a job? Some students simply perform better away from a desk.

Socioeconomic inclusivity is not the opposite of elitism. Many institutions, like United World College, pride themselves on financially supporting students who would otherwise miss out.

Certain social classes do not automatically lead to certain personality types, but it is important to have an admissions process to university.

Hong Kong's capitalist economy fosters this quantification of education. But education is dynamic and should be treated as such.


You might also like:

- Hilary Moriarty, the national director of Britain's Boarding Schools' Association, says boarding schools help students mature and broaden their minds

- Harrison Chung has a vision - to fight for an education system which won't leave ethnic minority students out

- If your HKDSE results are below expectations, it is not the end of the world - there are many ways that you can still get a place at university.

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