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- May 18, 2013
- Updated: 9:15pm
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Thousands apply for schools as mainland kids born in Hong Kong return
At Sheung Shui kindergartens, applications may already have exceeded places as mainland children born here return to study
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Thousands of applications from mainland parents are expected by Sheung Shui kindergartens as children born in Hong Kong to parents from across the border in recent years return to be educated.
Applications received by just two of the 17 kindergartens in the town bordering Shenzhen may already have exceeded the total number of places available.
At Fung Kai Kindergarten yesterday, hundreds of parents, many speaking Putonghua, formed a queue that stretched across the road outside.
"It is scary," said a Hong Kong parent who waited four hours to get an application form.
The pressure on northern kindergartens is expected to grow as more children born in Hong Kong to mainland parents reach school age.
Educators have warned that the demand will spill into other areas.
The number of such births increased steadily until the government stepped in to curb the influx.
By noon, Fung Kai Kindergarten had received 500 applications for the 240 places available for the next school year.
Principal Leung Man-shan said the school expected at least 1,400 applications.
She said it did not measure how many of its youngsters had a mainland background as it meant little to them.
"As educators, if children come with a Hong Kong birth certificate, we need to enrol them," Leung said. But she added that a third of the school's current pupils travelled from Shenzhen every day.
At Sheung Shui Wai Chow Kindergarten, principal Wong Shuk-chun said the school had received 800 applications in an enrolment exercise late last month, although it had only 120 places for next year.
She added that the kindergarten would try to maintain a 50:50 balance between children of local and non-local families.
Despite possibility of multiple applications, demand for the two kindergartens alone is likely to have surpassed the 1,465 new places offered by the 17 non-profit Sheung Shui kindergartens.
The Hong Kong parent who had waited for four hours at Fung Kai Kindergarten, giving his name only as Lam, said he had applied to three schools in the district for his child, who will have to compete with other children in interviews in the coming weeks.
A mainland father from Anhui province, who was also in the queue, said his child was born in Hong Kong in 2010 because of the mainland's one-child policy. "Back at home, I would have been fined 200,000 to 300,000 yuan," he said.
Officials have repeatedly insisted that is difficult to gauge how many children would return to Hong Kong for their education after being born in the city.
The number of children born in Hong Kong to mainland parents rose to 33,000 in 2010 and to 35,000 last year, after which the government imposed new rules at borders and hospitals.
North District Councillor Lau Kwok-fan said education demand had exceeded supply in the district, adding that the government should set out policies to divert demand to other districts.
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11:05am
1:44pm
3:25pm
For the kids born in HK the school education system should be open and available to them. But only if their parents live in HK with them and contribute to the society, meaning they should have a residence/home in HK and anyhow pay taxes. Those taxes and contribution are used to finance the city, medical infrastructure and school education. If you don't contribute you are not entitled to use. A simply calculation. I give and I take. One sided business will lead always to default. That is that easy and done in the Mainland with the Hukou system to avoid excessive immigration to the cities getting out of control. Without a Hukou and tax bill your kids are not entlitled to have a place in kindergarten or school in the concerned city. HK should to do the same.
2:08pm
1:35pm
>>CAMEL you are right but have you seen these people always get serivce in hk with out que and qouta system you think they will pay tax? immigration/hospital/airport/any place they dont bother to line up or follow the system.that side these people follow all the rules but in hk they just come to **** the systems.
lets see after 5-10 years HKers will get the result back of this population.sorry to say but just 5-10 years back these hkers use to abuse and avoid lot other people becuase hkers highness now you will see how these your same race/color fellows will rule you.
11:43am
11:35am
The headline implies that thousands of HK-born mainland children have already begun inundating Hong Kong's education system. Then the reader finds out in the first par that, actually, it's only speculation that they will.
Are there any hard statistics or survey results that these children are coming back, or that their parents are even planning to bring them to HK to study? Or is it just speculation and fear-mongering from some HK'ers increasingly fearful of anything to do with mainland-China?
10:43am
Those families from the other side of the border don't pay taxes in HK and get school and quality education for "free" in this city. it is HK tax payer money what runs those schools. At least they should pay for their part and that means admission and monthly school fees, how it is with private schools.
10:02am
Given Hk has a aging population and a flat or declining average GDP, we need to attract talents globally but not just babies as it will take 20 years at least to educated them and no guaranttee they will stay behind to contribute to the economy of HK. Direct immigration based on skills and economic contribution should be one of the consideration to help Hk.
We need to move quickly given the aging population as will be reducing our competitiveness and putting burden to publicly finance the old age safety net.
