Education minister apologises after parents get school allocation messages early
Education Bureau says it rectified the system and urged parents to disregard the SMS messages sent this morning
Hong Kong’s education minister has apologised after parents received SMS notifications of their children’s primary school allocations a day before the official announcement, with authorities launching a review and stressing that the results to be released on Wednesday should be treated as final.
Some parents were left confused on Tuesday following text messages that listed the correct school choices but the wrong calendar year. The Education Bureau’s hotline was inundated with calls from parents seeking clarification.
Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said the incident would not affect the allocation results that would be officially released on Wednesday.
“On behalf of the Education Bureau, I sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused to parents by the incorrect distribution of the Primary One admission allocation SMS notifications [on Tuesday],” she said.
“All complete and accurate allocation results across Hong Kong will be officially announced as scheduled at 7.30am [on Wednesday].”
Choi stressed that no cyberattacks or hacking were involved, adding that the incident also did not involve services from contractors.