One thing that all three chief executive candidates do agree on is the provision of 15 years of free education. They also support the implementation of small-class teaching in schools, though to different extents.
Ever since reunification, the government has invested substantially in education. According to the 2012-13 estimates, education expenditure will still take up the largest share of public expenditure among different policy areas, in both recurrent (21.3per cent) and total terms (18.9per cent), representing about 4.1per cent of gross domestic product.
Any future government genuinely believing in the virtue of 15 years of free education, with special attention to the early years, should of course be willing to spend more. However, across-the-board funding may not be enough to deliver the right results.
This year marks the full implementation of the new '3+3+4' academic structure (three years in junior secondary school, three in senior secondary and four in university).
Although we cannot yet tell how the new curriculum will make our students different, it is an appropriate time to take stock of the achievements and shortfalls of a decade of education reform, the primary goal of which is to make our schoolchildren brighter and happier.
According to various international benchmarking reports, Hong Kong continues to perform well alongside East Asian neighbours like South Korea and Singapore. Western countries are looking at Asian school systems, including Hong Kong's, to discover the magic for success. They credit East Asian societies for their unrelenting focus on learning and teaching.
