Running head: LITERATURE REVIEW 1

Does National Education Work for the Pakistani Ethnic Minority Teenagers in Hong Kong?

Student’s Name

Institution Affiliation
LITERATURE REVIEW 2

Literature Review
Hong Kong is a cosmopolitan region with people from diverse regions residing from it.
The region has over 340,000 people from ethnic minority groups. This number includes
Pakistanis and people from South Asian countries such as Nepal and India. Pakistanis that reside
in Hong Kong have families that rely on that have to live their lives like they would in any part
of the world. Being a minority in the region, a literature review on whether national education
works for Pakistanis or not is conducted.
A study was conducted by Zhang et al. () to determine the experiences of South Asian
students’ educational experience and attainments while learning Chinese as a second language in
Hong Kong. The study was done on 31 Chinese language teachers from five schools and 26
parents of south Asian students from the schools. The teachers and the parents were subjected to
semi-structured interviews by the researchers to get their views on how education of south
Asians in the region was fairing on. In the findings, it was discovered that teachers were less
prepared to teach the appropriate curriculum and students were treated as if they were first
language Chinese speakers. The findings also found that teaching methods and strategies
employed by teachers in teaching Chinese language were less effective. 30% of the parents
commented that their children found it difficult and boring learning Chinese. The methods used
by teachers were similar to those used on native Chinese students.
A different study was done by Cunanan (2011) to the segregation of minority groups in
Hong Kong schools. She conducted a series of studies that included a case study and interviews
with key stakeholders in the Hong Kong education sector. Firstly, a case study was conducted on
a designated school in Hong Kong that focused on teaching students from minority backgrounds
the Chinese language and curriculum in general. The case study involved interviews of nine
students and the school’s head teacher. The findings indicated that learning through the Chinese
curriculum was ineffective as students from minority communities were required to learn other
things to fit in. For the students to graduate and join other institutions, they were required to
learn the Chinese language, a threshold that was deemed hard to achieve among those from
minority groups. Secondly, the study involved an analysis of the curriculum adopted in Hong
Kong. Cunanan discovered that the education system was meant to benefit the majority
population and that minorities had to work extra hard to fit in.
A study that focused on the education of minority students in Hong Kong was done by
Bhowmik (2014). The study was aimed at finding he challenges and issues that minority students
faced while under the Chinese education system. The study involved a review of the education
system with respect to minority communities such as Nepalese and Pakistanis. Bhowmik
identified issues in different key areas. The most notable issues were in assessment and resource
support. In terms of assessment, it was discovered that it was hard for students from multicultural
backgrounds to reach the same level of Chinese proficiency as native speakers. Resources that
were also allocated to students from minority groups were also in small portions and inadequate.
Bhowmik, in addition, pointed discovered that students who were from minority communities
experienced segregation. Segregation was viewed in terms of how resources were allocated to
designated schools and disregard to their cultural backgrounds. Upon graduating, it was also
difficult for students from minority communities to compete in the job market due to their
inability to completely master the culture and language used in Hong Kong.
Crabtree and Wong (2012), in a different study, purposed to investigate the racial
discrimination of the Pakistani people in Hong Kong. They centered their studies on research
that focused on the issue of discrimination and race in Hong Kong. In their findings, Crabtree
LITERATURE REVIEW 3

and Wong discovered that Pakistanis, who are majority Muslims, were among the most
discriminated people in Hong Kong. Many were subjected to different kinds of xenophobic
attacks. The attacks affected different segments of their population. Children and school goers,
for instance, were more likely to be discriminated against than any group of people.
Additionally, Pakistanis who had gone through the Chinese curriculum were discriminated in
terms of pay. The median pay for Pakistanis and other minority ethnic groups was HKD$ 9000
per month, the lowest among all the minority groups.
Furthermore, a study on race and equality among minority communities in Hong Kong’s
education system was done by Loper (2004). The study involved interviews with 10 students, six
parents, and 12 relatives of students from minority communities in Hong Kong. The students,
parents and relatives were from Filipino, Pakistani, Indian, and Nepalese communities. The
interviewees were selected after they had demonstrated their dissatisfaction to Unison social
workers on their experiences in the Hong Kong education system. The findings of the interviews
indicated that there were issues related to limited choice of schools, low quality of available
learning institutions, difficulties in obtaining relevant information about the education system,
limited interaction with Chinese students, and shortage of opportunities to learn Cantonese to
diversify their qualifications. All these issues were rooted in lack of equality and racial
inconsideration from those in charge of the Hong Kong education system.
Research Gap
The reviewed literature provides great insight on whether national education can work for
Pakistani ethnic minority teenagers in Hong Kong. The literature provides different dimensions
through which national education of Pakistani teenagers can be assessed. Through the literature,
one can connect cultural issues of the Pakistani and compare with that of the majority population,
the Chinese. Other factors that determine whether national education in Hong Kong works for
Pakistani teenagers include race, the difficulty of learning the Chinese language, inadequate
allocation of resources to designated schools, and lower pay among Pakistanis compared to other
population segments.
The reviewed literature, however, does not directly address whether Pakistani teenagers
benefit from the national education in Hong Kong. An in-depth study that directly addresses the
effectiveness of the Hong Kong education system in relation to the needs of Pakistani teenagers
is, therefore, needed.
LITERATURE REVIEW 4

References
Bhowmik, M. K. (2014). Ethnic minority students’ education in Hong Kong: Rhetoric, issues

and priorities. International Journal of Comparative Education and Development, 16(2),

126-140.

Crabtree, S. A., & Wong, H. (2012). ‘Ah Cha’! The Racial Discrimination of Pakistani Minority

Communities in Hong Kong: An Analysis of Multiple, Intersecting Oppressions. British

Journal of Social Work, 43(5), 945-963.

Cunanan, M. T. (2011). Dividing classes: Segregation of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong

schools (Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia).

Loper, K. A. (2004). Race and equality: A study of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong's education

system. University of Hong Kong Centre for Comparative and Public Law, Occasional

Paper, (12).

Zhang, Q., Tsung, L., Cruickshank, K., Ki, W. W., & Shum, M. S. K. (2010). South Asian

students’ education experience and attainment: Learning Chinese as a second/additional

language in Hong Kong. Teaching and Learning Chinese in Global Context, 63-80.