- All students from Form One to Five could transfer to Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No 2 if parents, governing body approve proposal
- Plan would allow at least half of teachers to remain, with a priority on those that teach students with special educational needs
Rosaryhill Secondary School will cease operations as a subsidised institution in the 2025-26 academic year. Photo: Elson LIHundreds of Hong Kong students from an aided Catholic school facing closure will be transferred to another one run by the diocese next year, provided no extra resources are involved, after a nod from the city’s education board, the SCMP has learned.
At least half of the teachers at Rosaryhill Secondary School in Mid-Levels could be retained under the proposal, a Catholic diocese official told parents.
Rosaryhill’s sponsoring body, the Dominican Missions, sought help from the diocese - the religious body governing the school - last month, with more than 300 students affected by its plan to close the school in the 2025-26 academic year and to stop admitting new pupils in 2024.
Sources on Monday said Joseph Kung Kwong-pui, the diocese’s episcopal delegate for education, told parents at a weekend meeting that church officials met Dominican Missions priests on September 19 to discuss options for students.
Insiders said Kung told parents on Saturday that he had raised the idea of transferring all students currently in Form One to Form Five to Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No 2 (YCK2) in Pok Fu Lam next September.
That was one of the options the Dominican Missions agreed to.
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Representatives of the diocese and government-aided Rosaryhill Secondary School then met with the Education Bureau, which approved the plan, provided no extra resources were involved.
Sources said a bureau official told the diocese it would not be entitled to more than HK$1 million (US$128,000), which schools planning mergers could receive.
Rosaryhill students wrote an open letter to Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu last Wednesday, pleading for a review of the decision to close the school and asking for a new campus.
Lee on Monday said he had told the secretary for education to handle the school’s closure proposal properly.
“I know the school sponsoring body wants to stop running the school out of its own will, which is not the wish of the Education Bureau,” he said.
Lee said he had asked the bureau to follow a few guidelines when handling the school’s case, including guaranteeing students’ learning opportunities, maintaining communication with pupils and parents, and giving full assistance to students who want to find school places.
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Parents at the meeting were told YCK2 was the only school that could absorb Rosaryhill’s more than 300 students in one go, and that half of its student population was non-Chinese, similar to the secondary school.
Moving students to YCK2 would also mean being able to retain more than 20 Rosaryhill teachers, Kung said, with a priority on those taking care of students with special educational needs. More elective subjects could also be offered under this proposal.
A final decision will be made after soliciting opinions from parents.
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“We already offered our helping hand, and the bishop [Stephen Chow Sau-yan] already said if parents find this proposal unacceptable, we will withdraw it,” a meeting attendee quoted Kung as saying.
The SCMP has approached the diocese for comment.
Apart from this option, parents could also choose to transfer lower-form students from the school in phases while those in senior forms could remain until the campus closed, or join the city’s central allocation system after completing Form Three.
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But Kung told parents these two options would make more teachers jobless and give students a slim chance to study in a school with their preferred subjects.
A parent who attended the meeting accused Kung of “emotional blackmail” by stressing that parents should make a decision in the interests of all students.
“There is no reason for Form Four to Six students to switch to YCK2 as they like the campus, they can stay until the school closes down,” the parent said.
A spokeswoman for the bureau said it would continue to pay attention to the school’s situation but did not comment on the proposal.