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Don’t Ask, Do(n’t) Tell: Homeschooling in Hong Kong

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 August 2018

Esther ERLINGS
Esther ERLINGS*
Affiliation:
College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University, Australia
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Abstract

Hong Kong’s history of compulsory schooling (as opposed to education) commenced under colonial rule and has been maintained by the local government following the 1997 Handover. Beyond the exception of “reasonable cause,” homeschooling, or elective home education, is in principle prohibited under the laws of Hong Kong. However, there is evidence of a growing homeschooling community in Hong Kong that relies on loopholes in the law and an apparent de facto government policy to operate. This article sets out the background, legal framework, and homeschooling practice in Hong Kong. It criticizes the current situation from the perspectives of legal certainty and children’s rights. The author suggests that the government should take action to devise clear laws and public policy in relation to elective home education.

Keywords

homeschoolingeducationchildren’s rightscolonialismHong Kong
Type
Research Article
Information
Asian Journal of Law and Society , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , November 2019 , pp. 307 - 319
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press and KoGuan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2018

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Footnotes

*

Lecturer in Law at College of Business, Government and Law, Flinders University. The author thanks Amy Barrow and Samantha Kontra for encouragement and comments on earlier drafts. All opinions expressed (and mistakes made) are my own. Correspondence to Dr Esther Erlings, 2.10 Law & Commerce Building, GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia, Australia. E-mail address: esther.erlings@flinders.edu.au.

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