In the mainland of the People's Republic of China (PRC), Mandarin Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in most schools. In elementary and secondary schools for ethnic minorities, the minority languages - such as Mongolian, Tibetan and Korean are also used. However, the two special administrative regions (SAR) of the PRC have their own policies on the media of instruction :
In the Hong Kong SAR, Chinese and English, which are the official languages of the region, are used as the mediums of instruction in schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools. Since 1997, the Hong Kong government has pursued a policy of encouraging schools to switch to mother-tongue teaching and has only allowed about 120 of the region's approximately 400 government and aided schools to continue using English as the medium of instruction. Following recommendations from the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research the government has announced that from 2008 onwards, secondary schools will only be permitted to use English as the medium of instruction if at least 85% of students enrolling in F. 1 fall into the top 40% of students for English, mathematics and Chinese in primary school assessments, as it has deemed that only students who are in this category are able to benefit from E.M.I. This move has been controversial as parents are eager to send their children to E.M.I. schools which they consider will offer them better career opportunities, as there are fears that switching to C.M.I will make it more difficult for students to gain university places in the territory, English being the principle medium at tertiary level, and as members of non-Chinese medium ethnic minorities are expected to find it more difficult to get school places.
In the Macau SAR, Chinese and Portuguese are the two official languages of the region. Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in many schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools. Portuguese is used in Portugal-backed schools. English, which is not an official language of the region, is also used in a lot of schools.
In the Hong Kong SAR, Chinese and English, which are the official languages of the region, are used as the mediums of instruction in schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools. Since 1997, the Hong Kong government has pursued a policy of encouraging schools to switch to mother-tongue teaching and has only allowed about 120 of the region's approximately 400 government and aided schools to continue using English as the medium of instruction. Following recommendations from the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research the government has announced that from 2008 onwards, secondary schools will only be permitted to use English as the medium of instruction if at least 85% of students enrolling in F. 1 fall into the top 40% of students for English, mathematics and Chinese in primary school assessments, as it has deemed that only students who are in this category are able to benefit from E.M.I. This move has been controversial as parents are eager to send their children to E.M.I. schools which they consider will offer them better career opportunities, as there are fears that switching to C.M.I will make it more difficult for students to gain university places in the territory, English being the principle medium at tertiary level, and as members of non-Chinese medium ethnic minorities are expected to find it more difficult to get school places.
In the Macau SAR, Chinese and Portuguese are the two official languages of the region. Chinese is used as the medium of instruction in many schools. When Chinese is used as the medium of instruction, Cantonese Chinese is usually spoken, though Mandarin Chinese is spoken in some schools. Portuguese is used in Portugal-backed schools. English, which is not an official language of the region, is also used in a lot of schools.
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