Submission on the hearing of the Report of Hong Kong under International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the Committee) made an unprecedented number of observations and recommendations regarding Hong Kong’s progress on eliminating racial inequality.
The Committee commented that even though the “Chinese Language Curriculum Second Language Learning Framework” (Learning Framework) has been implemented since 2014, there is not adequate Chinese language instruction for non-Chinese speaking students. The Committee is also concerned about the majority of non-Chinese children continuing to attend a few former “designated schools”. United Nations Human Rights Committee (2013), Children’s Rights Committee (2013), and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (2014) had concerns on minority Chinese language learning and education policies and suggested the Government to promptly ameliorate substantive racial segregation in schools, yet there has not much significant progress.
The Committee urges the Government to strengthen measures to ensure equal access to, availability of and quality of education to all ethnic groups, and facilitate the smooth integration of minority students into mainstream education so children of all ethnicities enjoy their right to inclusive and Chinese-language education.