ALLEN AU-YEUNG ALLEN.AUYEUNG@SCMP.COM
PUBLISHED : Monday, 19 October, 2015, 7:01am
UPDATED : Monday, 19 October, 2015, 7:01am
Macau's ban on writing lessons for first-year pre-school students has some in Hong Kong weighing the benefits of possibly following suit. Photo: Edward Wong
An education lawmaker called on parents and teachers in Hong Kong to reflect on how writing should be taught to kids in the city after neighbouring Macau introduced regulations to remove writing from the teaching curriculum for its first-year kindergarten students.
Starting from last month, children in Macau are spared from taking writing lessons in their first year of pre-school as part of a reform to promote balanced development of young pupils.
The guideline, issued by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau of Macau, said: “The first year of infant education shall not include the teaching of writing” and “teachers shall never force K1 students to write”.
Hong Kong education lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen welcomed Macau’s move and thought Hong Kong could also thoroughly discuss how writing should be taught to kids.
“Macau is very different from Hong Kong,” said Ip. “There is an emphasis on pushing kids to learn how to write early in Hong Kong pre-schools. It’s not good for the long-term growth of children.”
“But situations vary from school to school. Some are very extreme and some are better,” he added, saying the local situation had improved. “Twenty years ago, I saw pre-school kids who had to write the word ‘butterfly’ [in Chinese] 100 times. Now, they only need to copy it five times.”
If there are any changes in regulations, Ip believes parents in Hong Kong must first rethink their expectations for their children.
“Kindergartens in Hong Kong are all privately-run and their curriculum is influenced by parents’ demands,” Ip said.
“Parents always have a wish for their children to learn something very difficult and to win at the starting line … they must rethink whether this is good for their kids.
“The Education Bureau also needs to lead the discussion. Teachers also have to convince parents that the teaching curriculum has to fit the child’s growth.”
READ MORE: The Hong Kong parents opting out of the kindergarten rat race
Macau’s reasons for banning writing lessons for first-year pre-school students are that “muscles of K1 students have not yet fully developed” and that “learning abstract symbols does not comply with their development and learning characteristics”.
However, if a child showed great interest in writing, the teacher “could provide them with pens and drawing paper”.
Anita Tse Yuk-sim, a principal of a pre-school in Tsuen Wan said: “It’s good [Macau] is doing it.”
According to Tse, whose career with kindergartens spanned two decades, the Education Bureau in Hong Kong already introduced a guideline that suggested schools teach kids how to write until they reach the age of four or K2.
“In K1, we give them writing preparations. We let the kids draw, colour and play with clay to strengthen their hand muscles first,” Tse said.
“But, some parents do privately give their kids writing practices afterschool because they want to give them a head start.
“Those writing practices that ask the kids to copy and copy are meaningless,” she said.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1869269/macaus-ban-first-year-kindergarten-writing-has
