School beats number crunch again
The Tai Kok Tsui primary school, threatened with closure this year for the second time, has enrolled its 23rd Primary One pupil for September, reaching the minimum threshold for class size in the last week of term.
Although Fresh Fish Traders' School will still need to use private funds to pay for its Primary One class in 2007-08, principal Leung Kee-cheong said meeting the cut-off figure was a symbolic victory.
'We now have renewed hope that we can switch back to become a government-aided school next year when these students enter Primary Two,' Mr Leung said.
To revert to government funding, the school needs to net a further 23 Primary One pupils next year.
The school made headlines in March when it hooked only 10 students for Primary One, making it one of 13 primary schools ordered to cease admissions.
It was the second time Fresh Fish Traders' School had been told to close, having fought a high-profile public battle to stay open in 2004.
Mr Leung announced the school had signed up its 23rd student - seven-year-old Angela Liu Wing-in - at an end-of-term ceremony for Primary Six pupils, at which he reflected on the strain of 'being designated a 'killed school' for a second time'.
'The sponsoring body's initial reaction was to give up and let the school close,' Mr Leung told the assembly. 'But when we saw the reaction from parents was so strong we decided we had to fight to keep this school running. I am sure that if we persevere we will be able to stay open. We have the ability to produce good students.'
Angela's mother, Tong Hang-in, said the family were late looking for a school place as they had just returned from South Africa.
'The main reason we chose this school is because it is quite close to our home,' said Ms Tong, who lives in Sham Shui Po. 'But it is also important to me that there are just over 20 pupils in the class. I don't want my daughter to be in a class with a huge number of pupils.'
A spokesman for the Education Bureau said: 'If they meet the minimum Primary One admission for the 2008-09 school year, then the whole school will return to being government-aided.'
