Pupils make champion readers - for exams only

(The Standard P.10  13 Dec 2012)Primary students in Hong Kong ranked(排列) first in reading worldwide but they were nearly at the bottom in reading for pleasure.

The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study(促進國際閱讀素養研究) showed the territory(地區) was tops in reading, followed by Singapore, Russia and Finland.

Reading tests were taken by 300,000 children from 49 countries. But Hong Kong students scored(得分) near the bottom for "reading satisfaction" as they seemed to lack interest, motivation(推動力) and confidence in reading and in class interaction(班級互動).

"This shows Hong Kong students read for exams, and not to achieve(實現)any self-satisfaction(自滿) in reading," said Alice Wong Siu-ling, associate professor in education at the University of Hong Kong.  

Wong was involved in administering the tests, which were conducted by the university's facultyof education(大學的教育系).

Nearly 4,000 Primary Four pupils, from 136 schools, and a similar number of Form Two pupils, from 117 secondary schools, took the maths and science tests, while the reading assessments(閱讀評估) were given to 4,200 Primary Four pupils.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong students scored an overall average of six marks in the International English Language Testing System, which is higher than the scores achieved by students from Taiwan and South Korea.

Secretary for Education Eddie Ng Hak-kim told the Legislative Council that the authorities have been making great efforts to create an English-speaking environment.

This is to enable(賦予)both students and teachers to enhance(提高) their English proficiency(精通), he said.

"The government has set aside more than HK$500 million for schools to spend on English-related encouragement policies," Ng said.

As English is one of the official languages in Hong Kong, the names of all government buildings and documents are given bilingually(雙語), he added.

Candy Chan