A is for… ARE YOU KIDDING?!
In a city famed for the pressure it puts on kids to excel academically, things just got harder for four year olds.
ESF Educational Services, a body authorised by the Cambridge English Language Assessment to organise English proficiency tests in the city, has lowered the age at which children can take the exams from five to four.
“Children in Hong Kong are achieving a great deal with their English language learning, which is creating a huge demand for English tests at younger and younger ages,” Crystal Kwong, head of examinations at the ESF Educational Services, told the SCMP.
The lowered age threshold means that Hong Kong children can now take the exam after just one year of kindergarten education.
This test is divided into three levels – Starters, Movers and Flyers – and consists of listening, reading, writing and speaking components.
As “Asia’s World City”, Hong Kong already expects kids to learn at least the two official languages of the territory, English and Cantonese, not to mention Mandarin, French, and whatever the hell else their parents think will put them in front of the pack.
However, according to Kwong, the test is not stressful.
“Cambridge English has developed the Young Learners tests with this in mind, making sure they are a fun, motivating and rewarding experience,” she says.
But not everybody agrees.
Ip Kin-yuen, a lawmaker in Hong Kong’s education sector, says young children should be playing with their friends and having a childhood instead of fretting about some test.
“I am worried about the pressure that the children will face. Parents who want their children to learn English should let them do so in a fun way and not let them take assessments,” Ip said.
Betty Choi, Principal of St. Nicholas Kindergarten in Kowloon Tong, said the exams provide a good measure of English language ability.
She said that current students are learning at a much more rapid pace, adding that lowering the age limit poses no additional pressure as she considers Hong Kong children to be capable and ready.
Her school is the first to register four-year-olds to take the tests.
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