- Parents unhappy with central allocation results can apply to preferred schools
- Sources say Education Bureau planning to reduce number of discretionary places in each Secondary One class from two to one
A class at S.K.H. St James’ Primary School in Wan Chai. Central allocation results for school places will be released on July 11. Photo: Nora TamEducation authorities in Hong Kong plan to cut classroom places that parents can choose at their preferred secondary schools next month due to the shrinking student population, the SCMP has learned.
Sources from the school sector on Monday said the Education Bureau was planning to reduce the number of discretionary places in each Secondary One class from two to one.
These so-called door-knocking places allow parents to apply to schools they prefer if they are unhappy with the central allocation results. The results will be released on July 11.
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“We have been in discussion in the school sector, and we are open to this suggestion if this arrangement could help schools,” Secretary for Education, Christine Choi Yuk-lin told a radio programme.
The new arrangement came after the bureau made a similar arrangement in the primary school sector, as each Primary One class lost one place reserved for door-knocking pupils.
In 2021 and 2022, the bureau called on secondary schools to use the discretionary places only for repeaters, as was the original purpose.
According to official statistics, there were nearly 1,600 Secondary One classes in government and aided secondary schools in the last academic year.
But principals, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the change did not necessarily mean parents would be left with 1,600 discretionary spots, as some unpopular schools would not receive any applications, rendering their available places effectively meaningless.
“It would only affect the number of door-knocking places of some popular and elite schools,” one school head said.
Lawmaker and secondary school principal Tang Fei said he believed the new arrangement might only be of limited help to unpopular schools affected by the musical chair effect.
“For some students and parents, they would only accept the schools which are their first priority,” Tang said.
“Schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme have lots of places, as they lost students to international schools, which have quite a number of students emigrated.”
Lawmaker Chu Kwok-keung, of the education constituency and a primary school principal, said the arrangement was “better than nothing” as schools could still use places to admit students who were determined to go to the ones they like.
But he noted the primary school sector received fewer applications from door-knocking after the bureau cut such places.
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The number of Primary Six students joining the allocation system has fallen from 54,112 in 2020-21 to 52,055 in 2021-22 and further down to 49,448 in 2022-23.
The number of Primary Six students studying in public and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools is about 49,363. The number will be updated next month.
The school sector expects to experience a serious drop in pupils only two years later, when just 46,500 students, currently in Primary Four, are expected to join the allocation system.
Education authorities earlier said schools with shrinking pupil numbers should look at mergers to ensure their survival.
The Education Bureau has highlighted a projected 15 per cent fall in the student population over the next six years.
The bureau signalled it would reduce the number of schools in a “gradual and orderly manner” to ensure the best use of taxpayers’ money – but did not give a figure for how many would be axed.