Educational disadvantage and discrimination for Pakistani and Nepalese school students in Hong Kong: the possibilities of judicial review and legal redress
Publication Date
July 26, 2025
Creator
Abstract
This thesis focuses on how Pakistani and Nepalese school students in Hong Kong are educationally disadvantaged or discriminated against under the education policy and examination system of Hong Kong. The research was undertaken from a legal perspective to explore the possibilities of judicial review and legal redress, which is an important way of addressing these inequalities. The thesis research includes doctrinal and non-doctrinal legal research covering interviews with different stakeholders from schools and in-depth analyses and interpretations of international treaties and domestic laws, local and other common law jurisdictions’ court judgements.
Ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong account for about 8% of the total population. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government (HKSAR government) is under an obligation to guarantee the constitutional right of equal access to education to all students without discrimination. However, there is evidence from policy documents and literature that ethnic minority students (EMS) are not sufficiently supported to learn Chinese at all levels, from kindergartens to secondary schools.
The EMS suffer prejudice when they have to compete with the Chinese students on the same Chinese examination paper in primary schools and the prejudice continues when the EMS are unable to catch up with the Chinese language standard in the secondary schools. As a result, when the EMS reach secondary school, they are arranged to study a General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Chinese subject, which is significantly lower in standard having its equivalent to a Primary 2-3 level. Lastly, unlike the Hong Kong Diploma in Secondary Education Chinese subject (primarily intended for Chinese students), which is awarded clear and higher conversion points for admission, public universities discriminate against the GCSE Chinese subject by awarding it either unclear or no conversion points.
This thesis finds out whether these discriminations are legally actionable in a Hong Kong Court by way of judicial review.
Item Type
ethesis
Thesis Type
EdD
Subjects (LC)
Associated Schools / Departments
School of Education (UK)
eprints ID
81241
UoN Repository URI
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Educational Disadvantage and Discrimination for Pakistani and Nepalese School Students in Hong Kong - The Possibilities of Judicial Review and Legal Redress (4152247).pdf
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