ABOUT

Educational systems in many countries around the world struggle to provide equal educational opportunities for their school age students.  Increasingly gaining momentum in ethnic and linguistic diverse jurisdictions of the Global South – specifically East Asia – are calls for policy makers in government and educational authorities to find educational solutions to the issues of social justice, the elimination of prejudice and discrimination and the integration of ethnic minority groups into the social fabric of society.



Despite interventions related to language policies, educational support policies, teaching approaches, curriculum reforms inclusive of assessment and testing practices, teacher development and new pathways to post-compulsory and tertiary education, differences persist in the educational achievement when comparing students who are from the dominant cultural and linguistic group in a society, with those who are deemed ethnic minorities in that society.

Education can contribute to a great challenge confronting Hong Kong and the world today; that is learning how to balance the competing interests of sustainability, social cohesiveness, and tension between local and international issues that threaten a spirit of cooperation. Education authorities can lead the way by acknowledging the rich diversity that characterizes both global and local societies. Education that acknowledges the co-existence of shared meanings and validates diversity will provide a pre-condition to securing harmonious co-existence. Education that is sensitive to diversity issues vastly contributes to a society’s increased sense of civic global and local belonging, and will engender a shared civic agenda.

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This symposium calls on local and international academics, post-graduate students and community representatives working and researching in the fields of educational equality/inequality, language policy and its intersection with equity, anti-discrimination and education, social justice, race and ethnicity. The symposium aims to attract participants who are eager to share, to listen, and discuss issues in solidarity so as to offer insights into the possible ways forward.