Hong Kong will limit the number of mainland children crossing the border to attend school to 13,000 from next year, the chief secretary says.
This was to prevent children born to mainland parents in Hong Kong from swarming schools, Stephen Lam Sui-lung said yesterday.
The city now receives several thousand cross-border pupils, who pass through restricted zones on special permits. The Security Bureau says it needs to impose a cap in expectation of a greater influx due to the higher birth rate among mainland parents in Hong Kong.
The plan was likely to include providing direct shuttle buses to drive the 13,000 pupils from their living areas to school premises in Hong Kong, Deputy Secretary for Security Ngai Wing-chit said.
The extra arrangements were being discussed with mainland authorities, Ngai said. Officials did not say how the 13,000 would be chosen.
North District Councillor Lau Kwok-fun said this would do little to deter pupils crossing the border.
