STATISTICS
Education is one of the worlds most sought after gems. In some countries, getting an education is a right, and in other countries it is simply a privilege. However, the belief that the mind is a horrible thing to waste resonates with many people in search of knowledge in all corners of the world. With a population of roughly 7,000 people and an annual population growth rate of 10 percent, Hong Kong is a part of the People’s Republic of China and is known for its blooming education system (Unesco Institute for Statistics, 2011). Hong Kong’s education system is divided into four different levels of education: pre-primary (optional), primary, junior secondary, senior secondary and tertiary, or higher education.
The Unesco Institute for Statistics (2011), indicates the Gross Enrollment Ratios (GER), which is the “number of pupils enrolled in a given level of education regardless of age,” at various periods within the past 20 years. From the year 2002 to the year 2011, the GER of pre-primary enrollment decreased from 87 to 62 percent. The gradual decrease can be based on a number of factors. Primary enrollment, however, has seen an increase in GER over the past 20 years up to the year 2011. In 2011, the primary enrollment was at 111 percent, with a slightly higher female population than male population. At the junior secondary and senior secondary levels, the GER has remained relatively similar over the past 20 years, ranging from 77 to 80 percent enrollment. The tertiary or higher education level GER is shown to have differed dramatically from the 2011 GER to the 2011 regional average GER, going 60 percent to 30 percent. One important fact based on the data provided is the indication that the percentages of GER for each grade level enrollment decreases as the grade level increases. The research indicates that approximately 91 percent of children complete their primary schooling and 100 percent of those students advance to the secondary level (Unesco Institute for Statistics, 2011).
About 20.1 percent of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product or GDP goes towards their education system. Of that 20 percent the majority of the money is distributed to the secondary education level (Unesco Institute for Statistics, 2011). Based on “The Learning Curve” (2012) produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit, there is a correlation between a country’s income and that country’s educational outcomes. This meaning that a “higher GDP is associated with better overall PISA scores (test scores in reading, mathematics, and science literacy)” (p. 18). Conversely, this correlation is not always reliable. Eric Hanushek of Stanford University explained that it is also a matter of how that country spends its money on educational resources. Some countries are better at spending than others (p. 19).
In Hong Kong, the average GDP growth per head was 3.0 percent from the 2007 to 2011 year period, and in 2009 the average PISA score of the eighth grade students was 545.57, the highest of all the 20 countries listed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (p. 19). Similarly reported by the Unesco Institute of Statistics, the 2011 regional average of literacy rates in Hong Kong were at 94.7 percent (2011).
The Unesco Institute for Statistics (2011), indicates the Gross Enrollment Ratios (GER), which is the “number of pupils enrolled in a given level of education regardless of age,” at various periods within the past 20 years. From the year 2002 to the year 2011, the GER of pre-primary enrollment decreased from 87 to 62 percent. The gradual decrease can be based on a number of factors. Primary enrollment, however, has seen an increase in GER over the past 20 years up to the year 2011. In 2011, the primary enrollment was at 111 percent, with a slightly higher female population than male population. At the junior secondary and senior secondary levels, the GER has remained relatively similar over the past 20 years, ranging from 77 to 80 percent enrollment. The tertiary or higher education level GER is shown to have differed dramatically from the 2011 GER to the 2011 regional average GER, going 60 percent to 30 percent. One important fact based on the data provided is the indication that the percentages of GER for each grade level enrollment decreases as the grade level increases. The research indicates that approximately 91 percent of children complete their primary schooling and 100 percent of those students advance to the secondary level (Unesco Institute for Statistics, 2011).
About 20.1 percent of Hong Kong’s gross domestic product or GDP goes towards their education system. Of that 20 percent the majority of the money is distributed to the secondary education level (Unesco Institute for Statistics, 2011). Based on “The Learning Curve” (2012) produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit, there is a correlation between a country’s income and that country’s educational outcomes. This meaning that a “higher GDP is associated with better overall PISA scores (test scores in reading, mathematics, and science literacy)” (p. 18). Conversely, this correlation is not always reliable. Eric Hanushek of Stanford University explained that it is also a matter of how that country spends its money on educational resources. Some countries are better at spending than others (p. 19).
In Hong Kong, the average GDP growth per head was 3.0 percent from the 2007 to 2011 year period, and in 2009 the average PISA score of the eighth grade students was 545.57, the highest of all the 20 countries listed by the Economist Intelligence Unit (p. 19). Similarly reported by the Unesco Institute of Statistics, the 2011 regional average of literacy rates in Hong Kong were at 94.7 percent (2011).