Catholic Education in a Changing Hong Kong

Diocese of Hong Kong Priests Rel.Brothers Sisters Cat. Population

1976 338 83 770 250,1971983 348 77 790 267,7981993 335 67 605 254,1342003 299 66 529 240,362

+113,000 Philippines

Numbers of Catholic Schools

Number of Students Catholic Students

1976 211 274,238 33,9471983 313 309,296 28,8271993 270 306,834 23,3432003 317 263,645 21,079

Sponsoring Bodies – The Number of Schools

1976 1983 1993 2003Diocese 100 104 100 122Caritas Nil 34 45 61Religious- (Priests; Brothers) 38 62 48 56Religious-(Sisters) 65 97 75 73Laity 8 16 2 8

Teachers in Catholic Schools

Religious Layteachers Catholic Layteachers

1976 461 7,8171983 373 9,807 3,9291993 211 10,624 3,2132003 149 12,167 3,166

Wah Yan

No. of Jesuits WYK WYHK 1976 16 19

1983 17 15 1993 11 10 2003 4 6

CATHOLIC EDUCATION IN A CHANGING HONG KONG

THE JESUIT OR IGNATIAN VIEW

EDUCATION

DISCOVERING OR SEARCHING FOR THE TRUTH ABOUT:

OURSELVES – physical, psychological, emotional social and spiritual.

Our Environment – Geography, history, culture, language nature, the outer universe etc.

God – His relationship with us; the gift of life and love; the meaning of life and death our dependence on Him; He teaches us how to live; His love for us, His children. He wishes us to be like His Son

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Mission:1. To teach the Good News that

we are loved, valuable, appreciated; that we are all children of the one family, brothers and sisters.

2. To help each one develop their potential – natural and supernatural gifts so that they can share and serve others.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Vision

This comes from our faith, our belief in Jesus Christ who came to teach us how to live, loving Him and one another.

Jesus Christ is the Greatest Teacher

He is our Model Teacher, who lived what He taught.

He shared His life and wisdom with us.

He came to show us God’s love and how to love.

He came to serve, not to be served

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

THIS VISION AND MISSIONInspires ALL CATHOLIC teachers

They see great value and importance in their career as a service to the community.

They see it as an opportunity to share not only their knowledge and experience but also their Christian moral values and attitudes.

CHARACTERISTICS OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION

Teaches:

a) respect for each individual life b) respect for the environment c) moral values

d) concern and compassion for the poor, suffering and handicapped

e) love for others, generosity, patience and forgiveness

f) a willingness to share, to serve

“ To educate a person in mind and not in morals, is to educate a menace to society.” Theodore Roosevelt

HONG KONG CATHOLIC EDUCATION

1843 FIRST CATHOLIC SCHOOL STARTED FOR BOYS

1860 CANOSSIAN SISTERS OPENED SACRED HEART ENGLISH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

2004 317 CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

Challenges

1 How to adapt to the present situation with less priests, Brothers and Sisters?

2 How to maintain our central core values in this materialistic environment?

3 How to adapt to the present reforms in Education?

Possible Answers

1 Train good Catholic headers for our schools

2 Provide better formation for Catholic Teachers in Theology, Biblical Studies, Christian Moral values and Psychology

These courses should be on-going3 Core values are non-negotiable.Emphasis on character formation and

self discipline on values of respect, responsibility, honesty, compassion care and service of others, justice.

JESUIT EDUCATION WORLDWIDE

Year No of JESUIT SCHOOLS 1556 40 1600 245 1773 845 1994 1,906 2004 2,048

2004

UNIVERSITIES 78SECONDARY 388

PRIMARY 83TECHNICAL 38

JESUITS IN EDUCATION 10,000

LAYTEACHERS 110,000

STUDENTS 1,900,000

COUNTRIES 65

IMPORTANT JESUIT DOCUMENTS ON EDUCATION

1599 “RATIO STUDIORUM”This was used by all Jesuit schools.

It is a “Plan of Studies” – a handbook to assist administrators and teachers in the daily operation of the school with curriculum and methods of teaching.

This resulted in a common spirit, common goals and methods.

1986 “The Characteristics of Jesuit Education”

28 Basic Characteristics based on the spirituality of St Ignatius and his vision.

1993 “ Ignatian Padagogy” A practical methodology of teaching,

taking into account modern research in learning which uses the core elements of experience, reflection, action and evaluation

Other programmes on education included“Dialogue on Teaching as a Service” A shared reflection on the values of

teaching as a service“The Curriculum Improvement Process”An assessment of the curriculum based

on the Portrait of a Graduate