As a parent of a five-year-old boy, I recently received a package from the Education Bureau, including a DVD video, about the Primary One admission system and booklet about schools in my district.
In addition to filling out a paper form and submitting it to the primary school of my choice, I also need to provide copies of my Hong Kong identity card, my son's birth certificate along with proof of address (for example, a letter from another government agency).
I do not understand why the bureau provided the DVDs and the printed versions when all the information could be made available online. Granted that Hong Kong is also facing the problem of digital divide, but the bureau should at least allow parents to opt out from receiving the hard copies so we can show our children we do care about the environment.
Likewise, all parents should be given the option to fill out the form online, thereby saving the school staff the trouble of re-entering the data manually into the computer system.
In fact, the bureau already has the information of most students and parents who participated in pre-primary education voucher scheme.
Transferring data from the voucher scheme to the admission system would significantly simplify the application form and save a lot of time that we the parents could have spent with our children. The proof of address is also unnecessary if data across different government departments could be shared - for example, the bureau can confirm my address with the Rating and Valuation Department.
