Dear Editor,
Recently, some educators in Hong Kong are advocating students here taking a gap year as an intern before entering tertiary institutions. Considering the successful models of the Gap Year Scheme in many foreign countries, I wholeheartedly support the move to encourage our students to explore the employment world for a year by seeking deferred freshman entry.
Many renowned universities, such as those in the United States and Canada, subscribe to the idea that students should learn more by working for a year before admission, because it may widen the perspectives of the students. In Hong Kong, because of the intense competition during the university admission process, students are left with no choice but to focus solely on their textbooks and examinations, which limits the students’ exposure. By taking a year out in the workplace, students may learn more outside their textbooks.
This additional learning can definitely aid students’ further development in their learning and working in the future.
Some of the subjects may even be best learned if students can participate in some pre-university work experience programmes for a year before studying them. For example, in engineering, many universities in the UK, like the Imperial College London, are allocating extra credits to candidates who have done an internship before applying to their undergraduate degrees, because the pre-learning experience in the factory may significantly help prospective engineering students to really understand how a factory works by their first-hand experiences. I believe that such experiences vital to their undergraduate studies are irreplaceable by textbooks or second-hand review. As Hong Kong universities also have a lot of practical subjects (e.g. finance or engineering), the pre-university experience related to a student’s intended major can help them to understand the real practical problems in the current world, and hence to learn better when they are learning the theory at their tertiary institution.
Students taking a gap year in the workplace do not only have a higher chance to succeed in their academic development, they are also more likely to get a job more quickly with a higher salary than those who go straight to university. According to many human resources managers, students who have a related internship experience before applying for a job are more likely to understand the real operation of the industry, more able to work well in a team, and more likely to stay in that company for a longer duration, all because the applicants have the experience of working in the field beforehand. These candidates are more attractive in their prospective employers’ eyes. This, therefore, boosts the students’ chance to secure a job in the current fragile labour market in Hong Kong.
Some parents may worry that their children may be exploited during the year’s work experience programme, and they have to do plenty of hard work. However, why not give the kids a chance to do hard work? In Hong Kong, children are often said to be spoiled by their parents because everything the children need will be instantly provided by the parents. Therefore, many children in Hong Kong are not mature enough to embrace the challenges they will encounter when they are joining the job market. From the experience in the UK and Australia, students opting to work for a year before becoming a freshman are more thoughtful and mature. As all parents would like to see their children mature, they should support the gap year idea.
Another reason why Hong Kong parents should support taking a gap year is that the children may then appreciate their parents’ hard work when they are also facing similar struggles. Many students in Hong Kong share a perception that their parents earn their salary with ease, which is never the real situation. Through working hard during their employment, students in Hong Kong may realize the hard work their parents have put in to earn every cent they spend on luxurious and unnecessary entertainment. This can finally build a sense of empathy and appreciation in the students’ hearts, and hence foster parent-child relationships.
Despite the numerous benefits for students to work before starting their university life, it is unfortunate to see that the atmosphere of taking a gap year is not strong in Hong Kong. Therefore, I strongly believe that Hong Kong should encourage its students to take a gap year for work. Only through this may Hong Kong students truly understand how the practical world runs.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong
Chris Wong