Hong Kong schools to relocate to new development areas to combat shrinking student numbers, education minister says
- But Secretary for Education Christine Choi says her bureau will not let schools with insufficient student numbers survive for sake of elective subject variety
- Minister also suggests students could study speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping on July 1, adds teachers should learn it too
Relocating schools situated in districts with shrinking student populations to new development areas is one of the remedies available for combating the effects of Hong Kong’s declining number of youngsters, the city’s new education minister has said.
Christine Choi Yuk-lin, who was promoted to head the Education Bureau after serving as its undersecretary over the past five years, also said it was acceptable for Hong Kong students to study a speech made by Chinese President Xi Jinping during his visit to the city on July 1, adding that teachers should also be familiar with it.
Choi, a former vice-chairwoman of the pro-Beijing Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, told a media briefing on Wednesday that her first task after assuming office was to ensure young people learned about mainland China and strengthened their sense of national identity.
“I hope their aspiration will also contain the concept of the country. I hope they have the heart to love the country, love their family, love themselves and others,” she said.
Talking about the coming challenges, Choi said the decline in the city’s student population was indisputable, attributing the drop to the low birth rate, the absence of cross-border students and South Asian immigrants as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and recent emigration waves.