This paper examines issues of affordability and justice using the concept of “basic structure” as developed by Iris M. Young in order to produce a more nuanced account of the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme. We draw on the experiences of Hong Kong mothers of different socio-economic status who have participated in the voucher scheme. The scheme aims to provide affordable quality early education by giving parents a flat-rate voucher so as to assist them in enrolling their children in non-profit local kindergartens. We base our arguments on the central premise that socially just policy requires meticulous attention to the basic structure that determines distributive patterns. We go on to argue that the basic structure is governed by institutional assumptions, rules, and practices about class, gender, and markets. Our analysis references both quantitative and qualitative data of a three-phased mixed-method study with > 1400 mothers. The key findings reveal how mothers of different socio-economic backgrounds experienced the voucher scheme where power structures and relations are legitimized, thus contributing to the structural processes that reproduce constraints and injustice. Mothers' articulation regarding the policy recommendation of free early education adds insights into the constraints they experience and a notion of collective responsibility in supporting the education of young children.
[Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.]

It has recently been asserted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that “education is a basic right, one that is vital in restoring hope and dignity to people driven from their homes. It helps them to get back on their feet and build a better future” (A Basic Right for a Better Future, UNHCR, 2016, p.1). Asylum seekers, both here in Hong Kong and elsewhere, struggle to be self-sufficient, and it is education that can equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge. Education empowers refugees and is the key to better future that helps bring stability and hope. The study to be reported here asses explores refugee family responsibilities and the Hong Kong SAR Government’s responsibility for educational provision in relation to refugee children in Hong Kong. The preliminary findings indicate that refugee children in Hong Kong encounter many difficulties and problems (such as financial, psychological). Many of them, however, embrace their education opportunities and excel academically with support from teachers and schools. This study highlights issues which refugee children encounter and also provides a narrative in understanding the complicated and extraordinary childhoods of refugee children and youth in Hong Kong. While the study is set in the Hong Kong context, the findings are likely to be of interest of other countries which to improve educational provision for refugees.

Drawing on in-depth interview data from 31 mainland Chinese (MLC) students in a Hong Kong university, this article conceptualises MLC and Hong Kong higher education as two dissonant but interrelated subfields of the Chinese higher education field. The article argues that these MLC students' habitus, one that possesses rich economic, social and cultural capital, prompts a strong sense of entitlement to anticipated privileges. However, this sense of entitlement is disrupted by the differential capital valuations across these fields. There is thus notable habitus-field disjuncture, which, exacerbated by the hysteresis effect, gives rise to a sense of disappointment and ambivalence. This article demonstrates how the Hong Kong education credential, which these students initially set out to pursue as a form of capital, can become a disadvantage at multiple levels; the article illustrates that capital valuation and conversion in a transborder context is not a straightforward, but rather a complicated and sometimes contradictory, process.
[© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group]

While a class gap remains in obtaining a degree despite an expansion of higher education, a variety of second chances have become available. How class matters in receiving parental assistance for seeking a second chance is of increasing importance to understanding educational inequality in an altered context of higher education, but it is under-researched. This article seeks to fill this gap by referring to a qualitative study of 85 community-college students in Hong Kong for illustration. First interviews with respondents recruited from a community college were conducted between the year 2006 and 2009 where they discussed how they desired a second chance option by studying an associate degree in community college. Encouragement and emotional support to seek this new, costly, and risky second chance was provided by parents of most respondents. And yet, as a deficit approach would have us believe, middle-class respondents received more relevant information and academic advice with financial support from their parents than working-class respondents. In spite of that fact, it seems to remain whether the middle class are indeed better able than the working class to get transferred to university through the transfer of an associate degree in Hong Kong. This illustration suggests that the availability of a second chance does not immediately imply that the middle and the working classes are equally capable of taking advantage of it to rectify their previous educational failure. This article will be concluded by discussing the implications of this study for educational inequality.
[Higher Education is a copyright of Springer, 2017]

香港作為一個亞洲國際都會，香港的高等教育一向重視培育國際化人才。為了剖析香港高等教育國際化現況，這篇文章將回顧教資會的政策，並就各院校的國際化措施、境外生來港升讀、高等教育學生交流等方面作出分析和討論。

Few studies have investigated the causal spillover effects of compulsory education on children's siblings. Using a regression discontinuity method, I find that Hong Kong's 1971 free compulsory primary education policy reduced the dropout probability for the eldest siblings of full policy beneficiaries, especially for children in low-income families. Having younger brothers who were full policy beneficiaries did not affect the elder child's educational attainment. Having younger sisters who were full policy beneficiaries increased the eldest child's educational attainment, especially for the eldest sister. The results shed light on how sibling sex composition might affect intra-household resource allocation of human capital investment among children.

This chapter examines the relationship and effects of perceived discrimination on the integration among new arrivals from mainland China and its implications to the Hong Kong community. It also explores how perceived discrimination, which may affect the integration process of migrants, would mean to higher education in Hong Kong. By exploring the relationship between perceived discrimination and integration, the chapter argues that discrimination or perceived discrimination significantly influences the immigrant’s prospect of successful immigration, which, in turn, affects the future development of society.
[Copyright © 2017 Springer Science+Business Media Singapore]

The present study investigated the relationships between socioeconomic status (SES) and word reading in both Chinese (L1) and English (L2), with children's cognitive/linguistic skills considered as mediators and/or moderators. One hundred ninety-nine Chinese kindergarteners in Hong Kong with diverse SES backgrounds participated in this study. SES explained unique variance in English word reading even after age, phonological processing, vocabulary and working memory were controlled. However, the effect of SES on Chinese word reading became nonsignificant when these control variables were included. Moreover, phonological awareness showed a full mediating effect on the relationship between SES and Chinese word reading. Both phonological awareness and vocabulary were found to partially mediate the association between SES and English word reading. These findings complement our understanding of the relation between SES and reading development in Chinese societies and may have policy or intervention development implications.
[Copyright © 2015 UKLA.]