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> Why do you feel the need to do so many extra-curricular activities related to child education? Because this is Hong Kong, and if you want to get into a good
by k_sze 5y ago
> Why do you feel the need to do so many extra-curricular activities related to child education?
Because this is Hong Kong, and if you want to get into a good high school, and then a good university later in life, this is what you do here, unless either A) your kid has really high IQ and would skip years or B) you are rich and don't mind just paying your way through international schools.
My kids are not case A), and I'm not rich enough for B).
Schools here ask you "what credentials do you have (other then regular education)?", "have you won any competition?", etc. I'm not even doing that much, compared to other really competitive families.
- jokethrowaway 5y agoGood schools are overrated, don't let them ruin your life
- sibeliuss 5y agoExactly, probably better to teach ones kids how to be decent little people and then have faith that they'll figure it out.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- YeGoblynQueenne 5y agoFigure out that unless you've won the genetic lottery you don't need to apply? >> Because this is Hong Kong, and if you want to get into a good high school, and then a good university later in life, this is what you do here, unless either A) your kid has really high IQ and would skip years or B) you are rich and don't mind just paying your way through international schools. Sounds like the plot of GATTACA. Maybe people who don't live there should not hand out advice too easily?
- ideamotor 5y agoYep. I cannot advise. In Texas education is not considered enough. But this sounds ridiculously too far the other way. The book “The Myth of Merit” comes to mind.
- rackjack 5y agoEasy to say this when you don't have 1 billion people also gunning for the opportunities you want (maybe less since they're in Hong Kong and not the mainland)
- patrickz 5y agoInvolution...
- pm90 5y agoThere’s definitely a lot of competition but 1 Billion is probably not the right number. From the Wikipedia page for the examination required to get into Universities in HK, the number of test takers in 2020 is: 52,687 [0]. This doesn’t include students using international exams to get in, but that seems to be a fraction of this number. Still very challenging but not 1 billion challenging. [0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Diploma_of_Secondary_Education https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hong_Kong_Diploma_of_Seconda...
- nicolas_t 5y agoAcceptance rate to the top HK university for locals is around 10% which is actually not that competitive and easier to get in than the average Ivy league universities (in addition to being cheaper). There are 14 universities in Hong Kong of which 4 are well ranked. I would say the chances of getting into a decent university for HKers is actually much easier than for Mainland Chinese students. There are some traditional families who feel the need to do a lot of extra curricular activities and tuition just so that there kid can go into the three prestigious subjects of law, medicine and finance but that's not all families.
- qw3rty01 5y agoJust want to emphasize the last sentence of the parent post, some of what you were describing really sounds like either leading to, or full blown depression, and want to mirror the recommendation to get professional help even if it feels like it would be a waste of time or bother people around you
- cultofmetatron 5y agosounds like a dystopian nightmare. Makes me glad to live in a country where not getting into the best school doesn't automatically doom you to a lifetime of failure.
- leaflets2 5y agoI don't even know what schools in the country where I live, are considered the best :-) I just picked the closest uni (worked out fine. This is in northern Europe)