To What Extent Educational Planning and Policy Decision ought to Be Guided by Economic Considerations – A Case Study on Recent Educational Developments of Hong Kong

Abstract

The ascendance to popularity of the liberal ideologies and the concepts of political economy of education will be put forward as the root cause for an increasing subordination of education objectives to national economic goals. Through a case study of the educational development of Hong Kong, this paper will evaluate the extent to which educational planning and policy decision should be guided by economic considerations. Although the rapid economic growth of Hong Kong and the rapid expansion of its education system in the past decades took place in parallel, there is no evidence that Hong Kong's economic success is directly brought about by its education. It will be concluded that apart from economic contributions, education has its own intrinsic values. While economic considerations are useful for planning and policymaking at a macro level, it may not be appropriate to indiscriminately apply economic principles in an intrusive way to direct the priorities of institution management and classroom teaching.