The Chinese Academy combines education with spirituality

Since the turn of the 21st century, China has witnessed a Confucian revival. Whether it is to support a spiritual need, strengthen a cultural identity or fill an ideological vacuum, this renewal has been supported by schools, non-government organisations and even president Xi Jinping himself.

Confucianism is getting a helping hand in Hong Kong too with the opening of Chinese Academy, a new through-train private school, which will base the education of social values on Confucian teachings, while promoting the need for important studies on how this 2,500 year old philosophy can fit our age.

Jointly established by the Confucius Hall, which was set up in 1928 in Hong Kong and the International Chinese Academy Education Foundation (ICAEF), which has a more recent history being established in 2015 by educators, the school’s three-pronged value-foundation is promoting Chinese culture and Confucianism, while ensuring students’ academic excellence and offering a global perspective.

“We are now combining these assets to build a new paradigm of premium education with a focus on the fusion of Chinese traditional principles and Western modern systems in the contemporary global setting,” says Prof Edmund Kwok, deputy chairman of Confucius Hall.

The school-based bilingual immersion curriculum draws out important elements from Hong Kong, China, Finland, UK, US, Canada and Singapore, according to Ramida Din, principal of Chinese Academy.

There are seven key learning areas, including English and Chinese languages, maths, integrated inquiry studies that include science and humanities, the arts, PS and health education, as well as IT and computer literacy.

The school will use both Putonghua and English as the language of teaching. At the beginning more Chinese will be used, but it will gradually give space to using more English in teaching.