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Education in Hong Kong
Hong KongEducation

Hong Kong education chief confirms 5 primary schools may face axe after failing to enrol enough pupils

  • Secretary for Education Christine Choi dismisses accusations that government’s demands are ‘unsympathetic’
  • Post reported last month that five schools may close after falling short of Primary One enrolment threshold of 16 students, some by only one pupil

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Secretary for Education Christine Choi has said that while some might think the Education Bureau lacked sympathy, authorities still have to set a minimum enrolment threshold. Photo: Jelly Tse
William Yiu
Five Hong Kong schools may be forced to close because of insufficient enrolment, the city’s education minister has confirmed, as she defended the requirement that institutions secure at least 16 pupils in Primary One.
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Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin on Friday also dismissed accusations that the government’s threshold was “unsympathetic”.

“The threshold to operate Primary One has been relaxed from 24 students to the current 16. No matter what the number is, there will always be schools that are one student short ... it cannot be adjusted endlessly, otherwise it will be unsatisfactory for students’ learning, extracurricular activity choices and social development,” Choi said.

The Post last Tuesday reported that five primary schools were not allowed to operate Primary One classes after failing to meet the enrolment level. They included St Charles School in Kennedy Town, C.C.C. Cheung Chau Church Kam Kong Primary School and Po Yan Oblate Primary School in Wong Tai Sin. The two other schools remain unknown.

The minister did not confirm the names, only saying that five schools could face the axe for the next academic year.

The schools in Kennedy Town and Cheung Chau each secured 15 students.

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Choi said while some might think the Education Bureau lacked sympathy by rejecting schools who were only one student away from meeting the minimum, authorities still had to set a threshold.

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