Tears of joy and scramble for places as Hong Kong secondary school allocations handed out
Some children may give up chance to enter DSS school for a preferred government institution
Parents of children who have been allocated places at local secondary schools have been shopping around in the hope of getting them into a better institution.
This happened yesterday as 46,659 primary school graduates received their Form One allocation results. Some parents of children who had already secured a place in a direct subsidy scheme (DSS) school visited some well-known government-funded institutions to apply for what are known as leftover places. These become available once other places are filled by allocated pupils.
DSS schools charge higher fees but enjoy greater freedom in setting their curriculum than institutions which are funded by the government.
Chan Yeuk-king, whose 11-year-old son got a place at the HKMA David Li Kwok Po College, which is a DSS school, visited government-funded CCC Ming Kei College in Tai Kok Tsui with the boy to apply for a place there.
She said her son did not have to face the pressure of preparing for exams for the allocation exercise because he had already obtained a DSS place, but they still had a chance to get into Ming Kei College, which her son liked.
"If he can't get a place at Ming Kei, he can still go back to Li Kwok Po," she said.