Small classes, big ambition: how policies can tackle temporary decline in high school students without losing teachers
Educators urge a change in policy to tackle declining pupil numbers, at least until 2017
Forty-two-year-old Shi Hui Wen Secondary School in Tuen Mun has just two classes with about 30 pupils. Amid a sharp decrease in the number of students entering secondary schools across the city, the school is set to close in 2017.
Shi Hui Wen is among at least three government-funded secondary schools that have closed or will shut since they stopped admitting Form 1 pupils in 2012 as enrolment slumped.
At least 15 other publicly funded secondary schools are facing the danger of closing as they had only one or two Form 1 classes last year.
Educators have been calling for a small-size class policy to prevent schools from axing classes and resources, but the government says it has no plans to adopt their recommendation.
"A small-class policy can help many schools and save many teachers," says Shi Hui Wen principal Choi Wing-tim.
The number of children entering secondary schools has dropped 12 per cent from 64,758 in 2012 to 57,151 last year. Officials project that the number will fall further to around 54,000 next year before it gradually picks up again in 2017.