Cross-border Pupils
應撥亂反正全面研議 助單雙非童融入香港
文章日期:2013年3月29日

雙語社評齊齊聽

英語 (足本收聽)

普通話 (足本收聽)

【明報專訊】THERE ARE not sufficient primary one places in North District for cross-border pupils next school year. Though the Education Bureau (EDB) has solved this problem by increasing class sizes, what will it do the year after next and thereafter? As "neither-is" and "either-is" children* grow up, the problem will spread to secondary schools. What should the government do then?

英語

下學年北區小學的小一學額,不足以容納跨境學童,雖然教育局主要以每班加人的辦法,解決了下學年的問題,但是明年後年又如何?而隨着單雙非童逐漸長大,學額問題將會擴展至中學,政府應該怎麼辦?

普通話

Yesterday the EDB put forward the idea of creating a "cross-border school net" to divert cross-border pupils to places beyond North District. This is a move in the right direction. It would prevent overloading primary schools in North District and ease the mainland-Hong Kong conflict, which has intensified because cross-border pupils compete with local pupils for school places in a single region. The "cross-border school net" solution has something to recommend it.

英語

教育局昨天提出,擬新增「跨境校網」,分流跨區學童到北區以外的小學,是正確方向,此舉可以避免北區小學超負荷,也可以紓解跨境學童過度集中一區,與本地學生爭奪學額而激化的中港矛盾。跨境校網有可取之處。

普通話

As regards this proposal, parents of "neither-is" or "either-is" children are mainly concerned about transport. It may take five to ten minutes more for cross-border pupils to travel to schools in other districts in the New Territories. However, Hong Kong's highway system is so good that this will cause no problem at all if there are point-to-point school bus services and steps are taken to make sure that pupils will in no way be hindered at the border. Some children who live on outlying islands go to school in downtown areas. They may have to rely on public transport rather than school buses. They may have to travel farther and longer to go to school than cross-border pupils. Therefore, if transport arrangements are satisfactory and parents of "neither-is" and "either-is" children are given to realise the situation, the "cross-border school net" solution may count as not bad.

英語

單雙非學童家長對跨境校網,較擔心的會是交通安排。跨境學童到新界其他學校,車程即使稍長一點,但是只要確保通關過境便捷,校車點到點接載學童,以本港公路交通建設之完善,多行五分鐘十分鐘車程,根本不是問題。在本港,一些住在離島到市區上學的學生,無校車服務,他們自行乘搭公共交通工具上課,途程或許較跨境更遠、需時更長,所以,只要安排好交通,給單雙非兒童家長解釋清楚,跨境校網不失為一個不錯的解決方案。

普通話

Though the "cross-border school net" solution is a step in the right direction, it shows the government fails comprehensively to deal with the problems that may arise in relation to "neither-is" and "either-is" children. Such children are permanent residents of the Hong Kong SAR, whom the government ought to utilise its resources to provide with education, health-care and social welfare services. However, the government has yet to make any forward-looking plans to help them better to assimilate into the community. There are data about them. There are records of them because they were born here in the past decade. The problem is that the government has yet to try and find out more about them. For example, it has no idea how many of them have reached school age and intend to go to school in the SAR. We gather it has no such figures. What it has is only rough estimates. ("Neither-is" and "either-is" children born in Hong Kong in the past decade number 200,000.) Secretary for Education Eddie Ng has frankly said the government's conservative estimation is that between 40% and 50% of them would go to school in the territory. The government has not tried to find out how many of them will actually do so, even less to make any long-term plans to help them to assimilate into the community.

英語

跨境校網雖然方向正確,但也反映當局處理單雙非兒童衍生問題不夠全面。單雙非童是香港永久居民,他們就會佔用教育、醫療、社會福利等資源,但是迄今未見政府有前瞻性規劃,協助單雙非童更好地融入香港社會。單雙非童有現成數字,因為最近約10年來,他們在本港的醫院出世,都留有紀錄,問題是政府沒有深入掌握他們的動向,例如有多少人年屆適齡會來港上學?據知,當局並無這方面數字,有的只是一些估計——教育局長吳克儉較早前坦言政府保守估計,(過去10年,在港出生的單雙非童累計20萬人)其中40%至50%會來港就讀;不過,具體有多少,政府沒有調查,更遑論有長遠規劃讓他們融入社會。

普通話

We therefore suggest that it take the initiative. For example, it should conduct surveys so that it will have full data about those children and can formulate comprehensive measures. To deal with the school place problem, it should consider setting up a registration system and calling on parents of "neither-is" and "either-is" children to register for their school places for the sake of their education and their satisfactory assimilation so that it will have data on the basis of which it can decide what measures it needs to adopt to cope with the situation.

英語

基於此,我們建議政府採取主動,例如做調查,掌握單雙非童的情况,全面研議對策;在升學方面,應該考慮設立登記制度,呼籲單雙非童的家長,為學童的學業着想,為他們更好地融入香港社會着想,及早向政府表達並登記是否來港升學的意願,讓政府以此為據,制訂配套政策。

普通話

*A "neither-is" child is one neither of whose parents is a permanent resident of the Hong Kong SAR. An "either-is" child is one either of whose parents is a permanent resident of the Hong Kong SAR.

英語

明報社評 2013.02.06

Presented by lecturers of Hong Kong Community College, PolyU and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Mr. William Tsang

Lecturer, HKCC

http://www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/index.php?lang=eng&cms=112

周文駿

香港專上學院講師

http://www.hkcc-polyu.edu.hk/index.php?cms=651&lang=big5

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