Warning! Rant Ahead!
The title of this blog could easily describe what I think of the Christian schools in Tucson, but I'm actually talking about Christian schools overseas.
In November I had a chance to revisit Hong Kong and Pui Ching Middle school (a K-12 school) where I had taught from 1968-70. I posted a blog about that visit back in November.
I'm mentioning it again today because of a conversation I had last week with Dove Mountaineer Jack Hauschildt, who encouraged me to share the following thoughts on this blog.
To understand what this school has accomplished, here is a brief historical perspective. Pui Ching was founded in the city of Canton by Southern Baptist missionaries back in 1889. Eventually it opened a branch in Hong Kong in the '30's, and in the late 40's the entire operation moved to Hong Kong during the communist takeover of China. There is also a branch of Pui Ching in the former Portuguese colony of Macau.
Western style education was new to China, and the school became popular very quickly. Like most nations at that time, there were not enough schools to educate the entire population, and the government welcomed anyone who would invest in children's learning. By the time I taught at Pui Ching, in what was then the British colony of Hong Kong (now a special administrative region of China), there were still not nearly enough schools for the entire school-age population. But the Chinese people had come to value education highly, and even the poorest refugee families were willing to budget a significant percentage of their modest incomes to pay for books, school uniforms, and even private school tuition. At that time there were very few government-operated schools, and the welfare of the population was dependent on a rich variety of school offerings provided by every religious and charitable group imaginable, as well as politically oriented schools sponsored by both mainland China and Taiwan.
There were also proprietary schools, and I often joked that it seemed if anyone put a shingle on their door identifying themselves a school, someone would show up to enroll their child. For schools like Pui Ching, which already had an 80 year history of success by the time I taught there, the number of seats available each year was limited, and admissions were competitive. Virtually nothing was available in terms of financial aid, but as I said earlier, families (and extended families) were disposed to make many sacrifices to pay for their children's education.
Coming as I was, at that time, from thirteen years of public school and four years at a state college, I was horrified at this lack of government supervision. It offended my American sensibilities that education was not compulsory, that some children worked in factories, and that schools were virtually unregulated. The only visible measure of accountability was the performance of students (at completion of high school) on the British style "school-leaving" exams, and on the entrance exams for the three available local universities (there are more now, of course).
As I became more conversant with the culture and language, my attitude completely changed during my second year there. In summary, I made the following discoveries:
1. The general population were extraordinarily aggressive in learning about school choices and navigating their children into the best schools they could qulify for. No one assumed education as a right, but it was universally valued. Even young people who had missed out on an education themselves were diligent in self-education (which I noticed at the busy public library across the street from my apartment), and the informal networks of information for "getting ahead" were prolific. "Morning tea" conversations at any given tea house often centered around school evaluations and stories of success, with tips on school selection being offered by one and all.
2. Students were held responsible for their own success, and no one thought it a hardship to do hours and hours of homework. High school students were relatively content with a fairly narrow social life, it being assumed that their function at that stage in life was to prepare as rigorously as possible for post-secondary success, either in college or business. The schools themselves were rarely blamed for a student's failure, and parents (as well as students) showed enormous deference and respect to teachers. Disciplinary problems were virtually non-existant, since it was well understood that attendance was a privilege, and there were waiting lists for the seat of any student who could be deemed not worthy of continuing.
3. Those consigned to the working class may have envied those who got to attend school, but they were sanguine for their own future and that of their posterity. Upward mobility through education was perceived to be accessible for any who cared enough and worked hard enough to obtain it; if not for themselves, then perhaps for the next generation. I worked part time in the refugee settlements, and was impressed at how uncomplaining most were about their long hours in the factories and limited hope for advancement. Most were always looking to the future and to the next generation, being content with fairly simple pleasures for themselves.
4. The Christian schools there (and Pui Ching was not the only one, by far!) were unapologetic about their faith-orientation, and highly respected for the quality of their graduates. Even though not all of the students became Christians, even those who did not personally embrace Christ will admit to having been affected by the world view and ethics which were taught to them in these schools. I have gotten this feedback even from some of the students I taught. An alumna now living in Paris e-mailed me once, "I try to be very worldly and sophisticated in my outlook, but I never stray far from those values that were part of my Southern Baptist upbringing at Pui Ching."
Here's how appreciative Pui Ching alumni are for their education. The reunion I attended for the class of 1969 was timed to coincide with the school's 120th anniverary celebration. The celebration was a two day affair which began with a huge pageant on the school's athletic courts, continued with an open house and several demonstrations and concerts, and concluded with a sit-down banquet for 3000 in Hong Kong's East Asia Expo Center, the only facility in the whole area large enough to host it. The current governor visited the opening ceremony and spoke warmly of the school's success. The banquet was sold out six months in advance and black market tickets were being scalped for hundreds of dollars (US) right up to the evening it took place. The evening program was emceed by two local television personalities who themselves were graduates of Pui Ching. The program featured appearances, both live and taped, by several notable alumni, including Nobel Prize winning physicist, Daniel Chee Tsui. The one hundred-fifty voice school choir stood patiently in their dress uniforms until it was time for them to sing the 120th anniversary song, specially written for the occasion. The last verse concluded with the hope, "my the footsteps of our former students continue to circle the globe with the light of the gospel of Christ."
At the Pui Ching branch in Macau, we saw equally excellent new facilities and joined part of their celebration, as well. The government of Macau honored Pui Ching's anniversary with a set of four commemorative stamps - this for a Christian school in a communist territory! I sent a first day cover of the stamps to the archivist for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, and she is having it framed for the president's office there.
One feature of the banquet was a fund-raising campaign for a new assembly hall on the school campus. I was interested to see that the building I had taught in, the newest one of the dozen structures on the campus when I was there, is now the oldest (although much remodeled since my time). Each new building has been named for a supporter, and the funding of each was provided almost entirely by alumni. Each building had been constructed on the site of a previous building, since there is no room for expansion in overcrowded Hong Kong. The tour of the facilites was breath-taking, as we went from one state-of-the-art laboratory and special-purpose room to the next. A gorgeous museum wing shows the history of the school and contains one of the (now ancient-looking) well-worn wooden teacher desks from my era.
For the record, Pui Ching (current enrollment is in the thousands) is only one of three large Southern Baptist schools in Hong Kong. There are, of course, thriving Christian schools of many other denominations, as well.
What is my take-away from this experience? Prepare for a rant (as I warned above).
1. Americans believe education is an entitlement and generally do not invest anything in it personally, since we feel so little control over the large per cent of our taxes which are lavished on the public school system.
2. The most notable effect of compulsory education (and the assumption that every young person should get a college degree) is the dumbing down of education at all levels.
3. Americans are adept at blame-casting, and very negligent in training their own children. Very few of us have learned that the government does not make a good nanny.
When anyone disputes any of these seemingly rash conclusions of mine, all I have to do is point to the remarkable Christian schools of Hong Kong.
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