Abstract
In late March 1982 the four-man panel from the U.K. (led by educator, Sir John Llewellyn), commissioned earlier to do an overall review of Hong Kong' education system, held two meetings in which the preliminary findings were presented and discussed. (Final report expected by the end of 1982.) To give the discussions a wider international dimension, overseas delegates from Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Canada, and Japan were invited.Overall Sir John described the development of the system as "somewhat incoherent, somewhat chaotic". Some key problems identified were the following: lack of planning overall co-ordination policy; inefficiency in the language of instruction scheme; too frequent examinations yielding distortion of the school curriculum; a need to attenuate selection and allocation procedures to relieve the strain on teachers and students; needs for a diversification of opportunities and improved access at the post-secondary education level; and a need for better training and professionalism with regard to teachers and school principals.
At different points in time many countries have grappled with the kinds of problems which the review panel has identified. Solutions begin with leadership from the educational administrators in charge. In this article the author describes the character of and the management of education in North America using a Past, Present, Future format. The writer does agree that clearly there are problems in the Hong Kong system, yet feels that due to worthy efforts by local educators over the years, these problems are not as severe as the tone of the external review panel's report would suggest.
Regardless, in the spirit of Hong Kong inviting overseas delegates to share in the review panel deliberations, it is hoped that readers will identify some ideas and strategies within the North American context which have potential application (even if just modest) to problems in the Hong Kong school system which have now been presented.
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