I took Jasper to the family doctor to get his 2nd flu shot. (The doc told me that adults take 1 shot, infants take 2 half shots to lessen the side effects.) He has always been good w/ his shots, usually just screams while the needles go in, and goes back to his normal self 15-30 seconds after it has finished.
We got to chat w/ a mother w/ her kid in P1 while waiting. The kid is in a top school in Tuen Mun. On average he gets 11 different homeworks to do on weekdays everyday, plus some reading exercise on the Internet, plus any corrections for previous work done. He spends a bit over two hours doing his homework, and doesn’t have much free time over the weekends. Anyone in his school getting below 90% average mark is going to be ranked at the bottom of the class. When he uses the computer it’s always under his mum’s supervision (‘cos she has put a password on the computer) for she is afraid that he might start playing games on the computer all day and not doing any work. She proudly told me that her son’s school was famous for the heavy workload. There is also another reason why this school is popular among parents. It has special link with a top secondary school in Tuen Mun and a majority of its graduates go to that secondary school.
Jasper for sure ain’t going to that primary school. Because he has been baptized in the local Catholic church, he’s pretty much guaranteed a place at the primary school attached to the church. I am going to have to speak to the Priest (who is the Headmaster) and ask about the workload for his kids. If it’s anything like this top school then I don’t think he’ll be going there.
On a radio programme on CR1 just now, they were discussing education reform. One of the participants was a Headmistress of a direct-funding school. Her description of her school was all very nice, but it comes with a steep price, which I don’t think we can afford.