Paul Yip

Opinion | Five areas where John Lee can improve the lives of Hong Kong youth

Hong Kong has a duty to its young people. We need education reform to better recognise non-academic talent, more resources for schools and teachers, better community support and help for families, plus improved job and training opportunities

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A boy does tricks on his scooter at the East Coast Park Precinct, North Point, on April 11. Photo: Sam Tsang

Paul Yip

Published: 9:15am, 17 Jul 2022

At the inaugural ceremony for Hong Kong’s government, President Xi Jinping said the city’s future depends on our young people. So it is our duty to prepare them to help Hong Kong achieve its sustainable development goals and cope with an ageing population. This means strengthening their skills and training.

Looking back at Hong Kong’s youth policy over the past 25 years, there is much room for improvement. Although education and social welfare expenditure has increased over that period, it has yet to effectively address young people’s needs and concerns, leaving them increasingly anxious and filled with a sense of hopelessness.

The mental health of young people presents a major challenge, with wide-ranging implications on both their physical health and holistic development.

That said, I hold out hope that the new government can deliver, because a society without hope is one that is unmotivated and incapable of pushing through reforms that can improve the well-being of society.

To effectively implement youth policies requires comprehensive support, building relationships and creating a platform for communication and trust. Here are five areas where there we can look to improve things.

First, curriculum reform. There have been many rounds of education reform since 1997. Unfortunately, little has been achieved, largely because of our exam-driven curriculum. For more than a decade, universities have offered 15,000 government-funded places every year. Yet, many young people who are not so academically gifted struggle to compete for these places, having found the previous six years of high-school learning both defeating and demoralising.