Homeschooling in Hong Kong

Some countries, like Hong Kong SAR, homeschooling is against the law. There was a case many years ago that a mother was charged for not letting her daughter attend school. The problem of school system nowadays is "supply-driven" instead of "demand-driven". School voucher, advocated by Milton Friedman, is popular in some US states. National Science High School (NSHS), Philippines was conceptualized from Bronx High School of Science in New York. Eight Nobel Laureates in Physics/Chemistry came from this alma mater.

A school voucher, also called an education voucher, is a certificate issued by the government, which parents can apply toward tuition at a private school (or, by extension, to reimburse home schooling expenses), rather than at the state school to which their child is assigned. An alternative to the education voucher is the education tax credit, which allows individuals to use their own money to pay for the education of their children or to donate money towards the education of other children.

Under non-voucher education systems, people who currently pay for private schooling are still taxed for public schools; therefore, they fund both public and private schools simultaneously. Via offsetting the cost of private school tuition, vouchers and tax credits are intended to allow students and families to choose the school that best fits their needs. Opponents of school vouchers say allowing families the option of both public and private schools undermines the public education system through threatening its funding and enrollment. The beauty of school voucher is the consumer decides where to study instead of government-assigned quota. Market forces and competitions will encourage school to upgrade its teaching quality in order to attract best students. If not, then wait for shutdown.

It would be best for schools to operate for the best interest of the students. That's a rare nowadays because schools have to cope with the changing times. Parents' authority over teacher is becoming a dominant factor over student’s best interest.

By JLo

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I am a law abiding citizen

I sent my daughter to school today along with her inhaler in her back pack. She is having some breathing problems so I wanted her to have it just incase. I have instructed her to use it only when needed. That means, no playing with it and no sharing to anybody. It also means, it is her private property for the purpose of helping her breath well in case of an attack. Last year, I did the same thing. She had the inhaler in her backpack all year. As a mother, I am concern for her health and believed that doing so is the right thing to do.

When we got to school, I immediately told her teacher that she had the inhaler in her backpack & knows how to use it. The teacher said “Okay”.  That was a good reaction for me, relaxed and confident my daughter will take good care of it. I went home and enjoy the day with the chores waiting for me to get done.

I get a call at 10:20 from the office informing me it is absolutely forbidden to bring meds to school & I needed to come pick her up. I was shocked! Did I miss the teacher’s “Okay” word?  Anyway, I went to the office to deal with it. I was given a form to fill out & have the doctor sign it. Then I can bring the inhaler to the office & they will keep it locked up there!

I was confused. My purpose to let my daughter carry the inhaler is for her to use it when necessary, if an asthma attack occurs. But with the way I am told by the new law, a kid who has an asthma attack have to go all the way to the office for their inhaler. The office secretary told me that is the law. I have no idea!

Okay, maybe I was just too trusting to my daughter. It is possible that kids will pass it around friends and that is not good. There are too many possibilities and my only concern is my daughter. What is going to happen if my daughter has a terrible attack and died on the spot before she can get the inhaler? It’s only my over exaggerated thought but it is a possibility too. I do understand that safety for all kids plays an important role in this law. However, I had my daughter carry her inhaler last year, year round and nobody said a word. It was safe with her.

I am a law abiding citizen, therefore the form given by the office has to have a doctor signed and to forward it to the office to make sure my daughter has an inhaler in case she needs it. 

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