'Nativist' groups plan rally at Hong Kong school over cross-border students

Two "nativist" groups will stage a protest at a school in Sheung Shui tomorrow against children crossing the border to attend Hong Kong schools.

Members of Hong Kong Localism Power and Civic Passion plan to gather at HHCKLA Buddhist Wisdom Primary School, where parents living on the mainland will tomorrow pick up the results of their children's applications for Primary One places in the government's central allocation exercise.

"Hong Kong should have its own population policy," said Wong Yeung-tat, founder of Civic Passion. "Children born to mainland parents have led to an influx of cross-border students. This has robbed Hong Kong children of schooling opportunities. We believe the government should take this seriously."

Almost 60,000 children will enter primary schools this year, 2,600 of them Hong Kong residents living across the border. The Education Bureau introduced a separate allocation scheme for cross-border children last year to keep them from competing with local children for places near their homes.

The groups are expected to show up at the school with a loudspeaker. They claim they will not stick posters on the school's walls or commit other forms of criminal damage.

A police spokesman said the expected turnout provided by the organisers was not more than 50 people so they would not have to apply for a letter of no objection.

"Appropriate crowd management and traffic safety measures will be imposed to ensure public safety and public order," he said.