Kowloon City may see worst shortage in Hong Kong of Primary One places next year, at more than 4,000

Kowloon City may see the worst shortage of Primary One places in the next school year, at more than 4,000, which could trigger even more acute competition for places at the district’s already highly-sought-after schools.

Across Hong Kong in the next school year there could be a shortfall of almost 10,000 government-funded places, as 59,000 children enter primary schools. But direct-subsidy scheme schools and private schools, which charge higher tuition fees, will provide 9,500 places to cover the shortage.

Kowloon City will have around 3,400 publicly-funded Primary One places available in the next year-17 school year, but over 7,600 children in the district are expected to reach primary school age in that year, leaving the district short of about 4,200 first-year places.

Even after throwing in some 2,000 places from direct-subsidy and private schools, the district will still be around 2,000 places short.

The publicly-funded schools in Kowloon City are highly popular owing to their good reputations. Diocesan Preparatory School, La Salle Primary School and Maryknoll Convent School (Primary Section) are all located in the area.

Chan Siu-hung, a senior educator and former principal of Sheung Shui Wai Chow Public School, said many children in Kowloon City had been allocated to schools in neighbouring districts such as Wong Tai Sin.