Michael discovered his passion for computers through a Canadian distance
learning program and was eventually admitted to HKU.
In Hong Kong, the DSE exams often determine a student’s entire academic future, leaving
those with weaker results little chance of entering university. One local student, who had
repeated grades multiple times in mainstream secondary school and was told he’d never
make it to university or even a higher diploma program, ended up proving everyone wrong.
After a friend introduced him to a Canadian online high school program, he discovered a
strong interest in computer science. Eventually, he left his traditional school to focus on
distance learning and achieved grades high enough to gain admission to the University of
Hong Kong (HKU) to study computer science.
Now 20, Michael recalls doing well in primary school thanks to his parents’ supervision, which
helped him enter a Band 1 English secondary school. But he became lazy in secondary school
and had to repeat Form 1 twice. Even after managing to progress to Form 2, he faced another
risk of repeating the year. He later transferred to a Band 2 school for Form 3, but with no clear
goals, he drifted along academically. Teachers told him there was virtually no chance he could
get into a university — or even a higher diploma program — based on past results.
Although Michael didn’t feel too anxious and his parents didn’t pressure him, he started looking
for alternative study paths, hoping to continue his education in a new direction.
When I was working part-time, an older colleague told me that she wished
she had studied hard when she was younger. That made me realize I couldn’t
live like that forever — I needed to work hard for my future.
Later, he learned that a friend had taken courses from a Canadian online
high school in Ontario (OeS) and was successfully admitted to the University of
Toronto. After learning more about the program, Michael decided to enroll during
the second term of Form 5.
Due to the pandemic, he attended online classes from his mainstream Hong Kong
school in the morning and studied OeS courses in the afternoon. The school provided
academic guidance and helped him plan his studies. Since he was interested in computers,
he chose to take computer programming courses, followed by English and mathematics.
By the summer, after discussions with his family, he decided to withdraw from his mainstream
school and focus fully on the OeS program.
Not Wasting Time on Mainstream School
Mr. Alan Chan, Operations Director of OeS Asia, explained that students can transfer their
Form 3 to Form 5 results from mainstream schools into OeS credits. However, since Michael’s
grades were relatively weak, only a few credits could be converted, meaning he had to start
almost from scratch. Still, what mattered most was that he had a clear goal — to pursue studies
in computer science and artificial intelligence — which greatly helped in planning his learning path.
He spent 14 months completing 13 courses, with 70% of the grade based on coursework and
30% on exams — meaning his future didn’t depend on a single test. The learning approach was
also very different from that of mainstream schools.
For example, in math, students weren’t asked to drill endless exercises; there were only about 4 to
5 homework questions, but each required a solid understanding of the concepts. Other subjects also
emphasized applying knowledge to real-life situations rather than rote memorization.
The courses emphasize self-directed learning. We preview the material first, and the two-hour
class sessions are mainly for asking the teacher questions. Back in mainstream school, I only
scored around 30 marks in math, but after studying with OeS, I got over 80 — that really boosted
my motivation to learn.
Michael said that every time he saw his grades improve and felt himself getting closer to his goal of entering university,
he was motivated to work even harder. In Grade 12, he achieved an impressive average score of 91.
He applied to more than 10 universities in Hong Kong, the UK, and Canada, and between January and February last year,
he began receiving multiple offers — even earlier than the DSE results release. In the end, he chose to study Computer
Science (AI) at the University of Hong Kong. Now approaching the end of his first year, he hopes to continue excelling
academically and pursue a future career in artificial intelligence.
