Aided Schools In Hong Kong

Founded in 1870,Tung Wah Hospital is the oldest and largest charity organization in Hong Kong,equipped with medical,educational and social services.Until 2017,the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals has established more than 300 service units throughout Hong Kong,with more than 10,000 staff members employed.It began providing education services in Hong Kong from 1880,and has established a total of 52 schools in Hong Kong,including a complete education system comprising higher education institutions,secondary schools,primary schools,kindergartens and special schools,becoming one of the largest school sponsoring bodies in Hong Kong.For a long time,from the early days of establishment to the beginning of the 20th century,Tung Wah Hospital was once a power center for the Chinese community.The directors of Tung Wah Hospital comprised members of the Chinese upper classes of prominent social statuses in Hong Kong society who were held in high esteem.Belonging to the upper classes,the directors of Tung Wah often assumed responsibility for resolving disputes and maintaining local order.The British government was also happy to maintain social order among the Chinese through Tung Wah Hospital.For this,Tung Wah Hospital has always enjoyed a special social status,that only declined gradually after World War II.This paper explores the attitudes and realities of non-government organizations running education services in Hong Kong society,using the process of how Tung Wah Group of Hospitals established education services and the transformation of the education services over the years as an example.Through studying the support and interference of the Hong Kong government towards education services under Tung Wah,this paper explores how Tung Wah can expand its scope of services,change its curriculum and teaching methods,and evolve from a private organization to a modern multi-disciplinary education institution.This paper is divided into five chapters:The first chapter briefly introduces the historical development of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals.It outlines the historical background from the Kwong Fook Yee Chee to the establishment of Tung Wah Hospital,and the joining of three hospitals to form the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals.In addition to medical services,the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals also offered social welfare services.The social services provided by the directors of Tung Wah at different stages had different characteristics,where the scope of relief offered covered widely,including compatriots both local and abroad,and also reflects the interactions between the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and the British Hong Kong government,the Chinese government,and the overseas Chinese.The second chapter outlines the first stage of establishment of education services.Beginning from 1880,Tung Wah began offering education services using donations to the Wenwu Temple and founded the first free school,expanding from a private body to a modern primary school.In the process of development in offering free education to needy students,the free school enacted major reforms in terms of curriculum and management Further analysis is then carried out on the standard of development of education under Tung Wah at the time,through lateral comparison with another long established institution,the Lok Sin Tong in Hong Kong.The third chapter describes the second stage of education development under Tung Wah.After the war,the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals fully restored education services,and following the 1950s and 1960s,the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals kept with the pace of development of the government to set up primary and secondary schools,early childhood education centers and special schools to develop formal and systematic education services.In 1997,education under the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals entered its third stage.Under the premise of cooperating with the government education policy,the school curriculum and activities underwent various adjustments,and a moral education curriculum was developed to build up a sense of belonging of the the "Tung Wah people" to the state and school sponsoring body.The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals also kept pace with the times,constantly improving and expanding education services,including tertiary education,in tandem with societal changes and the needs of the public.There are many factors affecting the development of education at the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals,where political influences and the spirit of the "Tnng Wah people"(Chinese of Guangdong)in particular are among the more distinct ones,and the interactions between the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and the British Hong Kong government,the Special Administrative Region government and Hong Kong society all enjoy advantages over other school sponsoring bodies.The Tung Wah schools places values education and the cultivation of virtues in high regard,producing many outstanding graduates,where these "Tung Wah people" have reflected the "Tung Wah spirit" and shone in all walks of life in Hong Kong.Studies have shown that the development of the Tung Wah education business has made significant revelations for public education initiatives.From a perspective of how the schools were set up,Tung Wah has achieved successes in funding,school management,development strategies and government negotiations,marking its successful transformation from a traditional private charity organization to a modern multi-disciplinary education institution,and offers a reference model for the future development of public education in China's mainland and Hong Kong.