​Supporting Non-Chinese Speaking Children's Learning Beyond Schools

Mr Dhar first shared the backstory of setting up IBEL in Hong Kong. He observed that ethnic minorities in Hong Kong are at two extremes: while some of them are being the top ranks in global companies, some are in the working-class, underprivileged situation. He realized that the language barrier would be a major obstacle for non-Chinese children to mobilize in society, so he first set up IBEL, as a small educational centre, to deal with the educational needs of the non-Chinese children, and then transformed to be a charity after seeing a massive needs of the services.

Mr Dhar emphasized the importance of mastering the Chinese language in Hong Kong, which, learning Chinese and learning in Chinese would be the main targets in the IBEL centre. Other than 5-6 days of tutorial sessions to make children more familiar with the Chinese language, Chinese would be utilized most of the time at the centre both in academic and cultural immersion experiences. By focusing on equal learning opportunities of learning Chinese, rather than having a special curriculum or learning environment for non-Chinese students, teachers should be able to respect and trust the abilities of the children, so that the society can be more inclusive and equitable.

Culture is another key for language learning from Mr Dhar’s perspective. Since culture and language are inseparable in nurturing manner, cultural immersion could bridge diversity and inclusion, and hence, lead to a more equitable society. IBEL has a social impact programme to provide social exposure for non-Chinese children coming from underprivileged backgrounds. These experiences would increase their sense of belonging to Hong Kong and boost their willingness to learn the Chinese language.

IBEL sees itself as a solution provider to support the schooling system. Mr Dhar also listed some qualities to be an educator who is teaching non-Chinese students. The dialogue sparked conversations on the educational obstacles of non-Chinese children are facing, as well as how pre-service teachers can have the opportunities to serve the ethnic minority children by joining service-learning programme.