‘No child left behind’: Does it apply to ethnic minority students in Hong Kong?

There is a growing been literature including and popular media articles reporting many issues about the current education provision for the ethnic minority students in Hong Kong. The Equal Opportunity Commission has also formally noticed Education Bureau of its concerns about the education of ethnic minority students. This paper will review these concerns that have been raised since the approval of Race Discrimination Ordinance in Hong Kong in 2008. Most of the reporting has been on the ethnic minority children who are already in the school. Yet a careful look at the 2006 census data confirms that a good number of ethnic minority children are not within the school. This paper therefore, will also explore the number of out-of-school ethnic minority children in Hong Kong. It will compare these numbers with other jurisdictions that also have responsibility for the education of ethnic minorities. The issue of why these students are not in school and what they are doing will be examined. Finally, this paper concludes with suggestions concerning a research and policy agenda in the area of ethnic minority education.