Day Two – Encouraging stronger partnerships
You can follow Michael Russell’s journey here.
When I travel I always wake early due to jet lag so I was up at 5am this morning responding to emails. First formal meeting of the day was so early it was called a pre-breakfast meeting and involved Ian Lindsay from the British Consulate. It was very informative about the general situation here in Hong Kong and again made clear the opportunities that exist for Scottish education.
That particular point was borne out by my breakfast guests who had a wide range of educational experience and who included Sister Margaret Wong, Principal of Saint Paul’s Convent School. Sister Wong had been a pupil in the school and had seen an enormous amount of change over the years. The process of introducing the new curriculum (underway in Hong Kong since 2000 but with aims and processes very like our Curriculum for Excellence) had not been without difficulty, she said, and she drew particular attention to the central role of teachers stressing the need to develop their skills at any time of change whilst not adding too greatly to their workloads. I very much recognise the concern. It is important to recognise the heavy demands of our teachers and recognise the additional pressures that come along during a time of change.
Dame Rosanna Wong, another of my breakfast guests, was the Chairman of the Education Commission in the Hong Kong Government when the reforms were being designed and was keen to stress the importance of offering support and reassurance as the process moves forward. Another guest, Dr Carrie Willis, has responsibility for vocational education whilst Professor Richard Armour, a Glasgow University graduate, was able to talk about the way in which curriculum reform was affecting higher education.
All these themes were broadened and deepened when we went to the Education Bureau mid morning and were welcomed by Michael Suen, Secretary for Education, and a number of his senior officials including Kenneth Chen the Permanent Undersecretary and Michelle Li who has responsibility for higher education.
It was clear at the outset that there is great respect for Scottish education here and a growing recognition of the common experiences we are currently sharing.
Among other things, we discussed Scottish students coming to Hong Kong for a period of time to study. Encouraging even stronger partnerships between Hong Kong and Scottish universities for student exchanges or study abroad could make the experience of studying overseas easier for Scottish students. It is most often the case that the benefits of studying abroad go way beyond the academic benefits. Although I enjoyed my time at Edinburgh University greatly, I would have loved to have studied for a period of time outside Scotland.
Towards the end of the hour and a half session we heard a presentation from Professor Frederick Leung (who told us with great pride that his son was studying at Scotland’s oldest university St Andrews) about TIMMS. The professor analysed some possible reasons for the success of Hong Kong and other Asian participants in international educational comparisons but what struck me most was his very perceptive underlining cultural analysis of international performance comparators and the penetrating questions he has raised about their validity. I’m hoping to persuade Professor Leung to speak to Scotland about these very important matters during one of his visits.
Our pre-lunch meeting, in the elegant surroundings of the Hong Kong Yacht club was with a number of senior academic leaders from various Hong Kong universities alongside Professor Bryan MacGregor from Aberdeen University. The topic was curriculum reform in higher education.
The common problems we share were very evident and the innovatory approach of Aberdeen University in its new curriculum was commented upon as was the challenge that faces any system which is seeking to adapt the education of its young people into the global pressures of the 21st century. In such a system it is essential that ‘champions of change’ are created and nurtured in order to help ease the process.
Over lunch there was a useful discussion about the details of university life in Hong Kong as well as much fascinating information about the interchange between mainland China and the special administration region. Twin sets of car number plates on many vehicles testify to the constant flow across the border even though China drives on the opposite side of the road from Hong Kong!
My first school visit of the trip was to Cheung Chuk Shan College where we were warmly received by the Principal who explained in detail the performance of the school and introduced us to a range of different classes.
I then met with some senior teachers and I was very impressed by the ’staffrooms’ they worked from. Clearly, they had left no space unturned in the building and were very different to Scottish state school staff rooms with entry requiring security cards and rows of metal desks piled with papers.
The admission criteria and the range of subjects are different from Scottish state schools but the new curriculum is endeavouring to achieve many of the same objectives as Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). Indeed, throughout my visit I have been forcibly struck by the very strong parallels between Curriculum for Excellence and the education reforms in Hong Kong. However, the commitment of our workforce and the nature of our teaching training has given us something of an advantage and our determination to deliver cross curricular teaching is more deeply embedded. The Scottish Qualifications framework and the new Hong Kong qualification framework have great similarities, a fact to which many of the people I have met have been quick to point and I have been delighted to hear about the joint work on the frameworks which is now being undertaken.
Our final stop was the Hong Kong Science Park which is in the Shatin area beside the beautiful Tolo Harbour. I was told that the Feng Shui of the site meant that the water allows the investment to flow in coming in while the mountains enable the money to be kept there!
The scale and quality of the technology park which provides research facilities to small and medium businesses looking to expand in Hong Kong and China is really impressive. The main purpose of our visit was to tour the first Biofuel Research Centre established in Hong Kong by Napier University in collaboration with Hong Kong City University. The centre is a key component of the City University’s School of Energy and Environment and focuses on the research and development of renewable energy through biofuels.
The centre is ground breaking and testament to the excellent, educational partnerships Napier has already established and continues to build in Hong Kong.
Now I am preparing for a meeting with key figures from business and academia arranged by Scottish Development International to further promote Scotland and opportunities around research and development.
Then early tomorrow off to Shanghai.
Michael Russell: Cabinet Secretary for Education & Lifelong Learning, from China