Dear all Hong Konger whom concern about the youth,
It has been a tough year for the Hong Kong students who have attended the Hong Kong
Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. They spend more than 3 years to prepare
about the exam with daily routine at ordinary schools, but something you may not consider is
that there are some students who called juvenile offenders have taken the exam with only 10
months to prepare. They have been sent to the institution from Correctional Services
Department as their crime for vocational training and half day school learning. However,
majority of them are not considered to have a right to higher education or even equal to same
age teenagers under the ordinance or law of Hong Kong. It seems not very surprised that they
cannot study further as they obviously are in jail, but is it a true that it is not fair for them just
because they were involved to criminal issues and not be able to learn in their treasurable
youth age?
After the few years teaching at ordinary schools, I started teaching the juvenile offenders in
Pik Uk Correctional Institution. I found that they are honest, humble and hard-working with a
great heart to learn. However, there are only limited students may attend the exam and to
study further. Today, I am going to discuss the unjust situation through analysis the lack of
the policies and the juvenile justice system in Hong Kong. The concept of the equal justice is
also concerned. More than that, It is important to suggest certain of solutions to the
government to provide a fair place and education to juvenile offenders.
According to the Hong Kong Cap 280 training centre ordinance, where a person is convicted
of an offence punishable with imprisonment, then if on the day of his conviction he is not less
than 14 but under 21 years of age, defined as a juvenile offender, the court is satisfied that it
is in the interest of the community and that having regard to his character and previous
conduct, and to the circumstances of the offence, he should undergo a period of training in
the Correctional service as expedient for his reformation, the court may pass him a sentence
of detention in a training centre not more than 3 years from the date of his sentence. The
training centres are established by the Secretary for Security and the welfare education and
control of juveniles the legal guardianship of whom is vested in the Director of Social
Welfare, according to the Cap. 213 Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance.
Therefore, all the related expenses under the order of detention, include the expenses of or in
connection with the custody, education and maintenance of the person, according to Cap. 225
Reformatory Schools Ordinance.
The juvenile offenders receive a Pre-sentence Assessment with interviews by the
professionals of Correctional Services Department and the Social Welfare Department. After
assessing their need for reformation, they will be sent to suitable rehabilitation programmes
with compulsory formal half-day classes for general subjects and half day vocational training.
They are allowed to take the public exams in Hong Kong including the City and Guilds
examinations, London Chamber of Commerce & Industry Examinations, Hong Kong
Institute of Accredited Accounting Technicians (HKIAAT) Professional Bridging
Examination and HKDSE. For vocational training, they may obtain vocational qualifications
for acquiring vocational skills for job placement.
However, it is important to stress that there are only limited amount of juvenile offenders
who have attended the public examination that aim to further study. There has no exact data
or report show the amount of offenders who are qualified to the HKDSE exam, the
legislative council received a updated report from the Correctional Service Department shows
that only 21 offenders attended the HKDSE exam in 2013(Legislative Council, 2014). The
figures of persons in custody who sat for HKCEE, HKALE and HKDSE examination in 2014
only shows the figures from 2009 to 2013. Later on, neither the Correctional Service
Department nor the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority has any breakdown
of the figures by the year to show the amount of juvenile offenders who taken the public
exam until now. It is very upset that the department focus much less towards the education
for offenders but mainly suggest them for vocational training. The industries and Vocational
training section engaged those young persons in custody in productive work and provided
them with market-oriented courses but not for educational purpose. Obviously, prisoners
have in principle the same human rights as everyone else, they may study and keep academic
books as a basic human rights(Human Rights Dictionary, P.253). Normally, a teenage in
same age can receive freedom to choose their academic study though choosing elective
subjects, focus of study but not for the demand of market and economics. I strongly believe
that the government especially the Correctional Service authority should take the responds to
provide adequate equality of educational opportunity.
While we concern about the educational opportunities for the Juvenile offenders,
structural-functionism claimed that as long as it is determined that the educational
opportunities offered to individuals are equal, the subsequent unequal educational
achievements should be attributed to differences in individual intelligence and effort. The
ideal society justice aims to "socialize" the individuals and make everyone become a useful
member of society(吳勁甫, 2003). I believe that a fair education system is used to meet the
needs of the society and should allow people from different backgrounds to have the ability
to pursue what they consider to have a valuable lives. So, having the equal educational
opportunities, they can enjoy their basic rights to study not for vocational purpose but to gain
the chance to enjoy schooling same as ordinary school students.
Despite recognising the need to fight for their right, the use of resource allocation for juvenile
offenders is another evidence to see the inequality towards them. Not all the students have the
chance to gain the recourse to take the exam, the teacher will observe the performance of the
classmates, including their academic foundations and attitudes. A filter to among students
who are the suitable candidates for the appropriate diploma examination will be selected for a
full-time diploma examination course of about 10 months. So that we can see not the
selection is depend on their academic background and attitudes, and the limited budget given
to those students are unjust to them. The report from Correctional Service Department shows
that there are 9 institutions or prisons in total provide some education and training
programmes for young offenders(Legislative Council, 2014). On the other hand, There were
544 juvenile offenders in these institutions and 374 in 2017. There are hundreds of young
offenders in the institution but why only few of them have the chance to have high school
education and take the public examination? A report in 2014 shows that there are only 55
classrooms and 37 teachers in these institutions, some of them do not have teachers. It is a
problem not providing enough classroom and teacher to juvenile offenders that it seems more
relay on the economic response to whom can study well and give human power in the
society. John Rawls said that the value of education should not be assessed solely in terms of
economic efficiency and social welfare. Equally is the role of education in enabling a person
to enjoy the culture of his society and to take part in its affairs, and in this way to provide for
each individual a secure sense of his own worth(1971, P.87). However, the lack of teachers
and classrooms shows that the government think the resources should only provide to the
juveniles offenders who study well and have the ability to return human power to the
economy. So that the juveniles offenders who have not been selected had lost the chance to
study and enjoy schooling with a basic right to education. It is very non justice that the
juveniles offenders cannot gain the opportunity to study as normal school students just
because they are the perpetrators. Including study hours, curriculum, activities, friendship,
liberal and community learning, which are easily gain in ordinary school.
A inmate debate between the Harvard University and prison students have launched each year
helping to give a chance for a better life. One of the debate student Carlos Polanco said, “We
embrace the opportunity. They make us believe in ourselves.” (Leslie Brody, 2015). The Law
of Human Right in Norway stipulates that no person shall be denied the right to
education(Inter alia in Article 2), and a comprehensive education programme offered to the
inmates and that special attention be given to young inmates. Compare to Hong Kong, it is
kind of development backward that we do not have a comprehensive policy to the juvenile
offenders in Hong Kong and promote equal right to the public that they own the opportunity
and chance to gain a better life. As we know that education is a very effective way to correct
the offenders and to avoid that they will be arrested again after the correctional training.
To talk about what they need exactly for the education, is it the chance to get into university?
Is it the chance to get rid of the problems and crime they are having? In some justice theories,
the benefits or burdens of distribution do not only include material social goods such as
various material resources, income, and wealth, but also includes non-material social goods
such as rights, positions, powers, opportunities, self-esteem, and honors. For the outside
candidates, they may take the diploma exam ]for further education , but for juvenile
offenders, it is a process of rebuilding confidence. Imagine that the teenager who was
desperate for the future and desperate for himself, after paying effort he was rewarded with
enough grades to progress to university, it is really inspiring to everyone. Taking last year as
an example, 19 young people in custody in Hong Kong have applied for 90 examination
papers, 87.8% have achieved Grade 2 or above (84.6% in Hong Kong). 3 candidates have
achieved the minimum required by the university, including one. Even better than the 5*
performance in the economics. Young(1990) said that oppression & domination is a
dangerous things to bring differences in a community, Marginalization make expelled from
useful participation in social life and thus potentially subjected to servere material deprivation
and even extermination(P.53). Now, the juvenile offenders are feeling the powerless that they
lack the authority, status and sense of self(Young, I. M., 1990, P.57).
Considering the importance of the right to education, there are some suggestions to change
the unjust situation, and I strongly hope that the authority take the response to promote justice
towards the offenders and the public.
First, the government should increase the amount of classroom in the institutions from 55 to
at least 80, and to make sure each institution should have at least 1 teachers to each 10
students in ratio. The institutions which receive exam takers should recruit more teachers
with high salary to fascinate them to teach there. We should give opportunities to all students
to enjoy school life, and the authority should offer other subjects such as Visual Art, Physical
Education that increase the choices for students to have a freedom to learn what they want
just like normal school students. Other than that, the data of the amount of the students who
take public exam and further study should be openly public to the society. We can make a
joint decision in a fair negotiation environment because it ensures that all people have the
same right to make decisions and no one can enjoy any bargaining advantages because of the
difference between inborn ability and acquired social status(周保松,2013).
Second, the government and Correction Service Department should reorganize the system
and the policy to juvenile offenders’ education. It is important to set up a law to provide at
least 12 years free education just like ordinary school system, and the responsibility to give
right to education to bring justice and equal. From the point of view of equal opportunities in
education, there are two strategies worth considering. One is from the political, economic and
cultural policy. From the point of view of equal opportunities for education, there are two
strategies worth considering. First, from the perspective of political, economic, and cultural
policies, ethnic groups are not isolated and segregated. Instead, they are constructing a
heterogeneous public and making vulnerable groups. From the perspective of curriculum and
teaching, we should open up multiple perspectives and re-exhibit the voices of our own
ethnic groups that have been overwhelmed by historical and social processes (楊深坑,2008).
If the government can give more opportunities to the youngsters, they will have more chance
to gain these social goods and the society will be more justice to the juvenile. I hope that
Hong Kong will become more justice, more equal and have more love.