Hong Kong schools hit out at drop in number of primary classes despite rising demand
Primary school allocation scheme has courted controversy with claims that rising demand for places fuels bitter competition between parents
Schools doling out places for the this year’s intake of primary school students have complained the number of classes has decreased, despite a rise in demand.
Primary One students were allocated to 1,813 classes in 2016-2017, down from 1,822 classes in the previous year.
But the number of primary school students has risen from 28,483 last year to 29,243, according to education legislator Ip Kin-yuen, responding to the release of this year’s allocation results.
“There have been complaints about the [reduced number] of classes,” he said, adding he would put these complaints to the education bureau.
Hong Kong’s primary school allocation scheme has courted controversy with claims that rising demand for places fuels bitter competition between parents – driving many toward private schooling.
The allocation scheme involves a randomised selection process, which parents have called “a lottery”.
“A total of 29,243 children took part in the Central Allocation for Primary One Admission,” said a spokesman for the bureau on Thursday. “Among them, 20,162 children were allocated to schools of their first three choices.
“Taking into account discretionary places and the number of children allocated to schools of their first three choices, the overall satisfaction rate is 82.5 per cent,” he added.
