The arrival of thousands of migrant children could have a 'serious and adverse impact' on education for Hong Kong students, the Government admitted yesterday.
Education, social welfare and housing officials were among those scrambling to assess the impact of the court's judgment on SAR services.
'Every effort will be made to offer placement services to the eligible newly-arrived children,' an Education Department spokesman said.
'However, should there be an uncontrollable daily arrival of these children - the total numbers of which are not known - it would cause great strain on resources.
'This, in turn, would have a serious and adverse impact on the provision of education services for both local and newly-arrived children.' About 174,000 students are enrolled in SAR kindergartens, 479,000 in primary schools and 451,000 in secondary schools.
Housing officials will meet to determine if the influx will lengthen the six-year waiting list for public housing, among other issues.
