Children 'to learn in empty rooms'

Education officials are hoping to teach migrant children, using empty classrooms in schools.

They will also speed up feasibility studies on 100 plots of land suitable for building more schools.

Ching Wai-hung, senior education officer (buildings), said 20 mini-schools would be built. Each was expected to take about 800 students.

The first batch of five mini-schools - each 32,000 to 43,000 square feet - - would be completed by 2001.

Schools are usually 64,000 square feet.

'We are thinking of building more storeys so they will have a similar number of classrooms despite the smaller site,' he said.

Mr Ching said the department had another 80 plots of land in hand for schools.