Parents brace for fierce competition as 55,000 children will enter the race for gaining admission to Hong Kong’s secondary schools this year
- Against an increase of 1,400 secondary school aspirants over last year, only about 100 seats have been added to English-medium schools that are preferred more by parents
- Pupils applying for secondary school places will rise further over the coming five years, government figures say
Fierce competition is expected for Hong Kong’s secondary school places as 55,000 children have entered the race to gain admission in the next academic year.
That is an increase of about 1,400 students compared with 2019. The overall number of school places will increase proportionately, but only a little more than 100 places have been added to English-medium schools that many parents prefer.
Government figures say the number of pupils applying for secondary school places will be on the rise over the coming five years, with the number of 12-year-olds rising from about 63,300 in the next round of applications to 74,000 in 2024/25.
One major factor behind this is a rise in Hong Kong-born children from mainland China set to graduate from primary schools, including many “cross-border pupils” who live on the mainland but come to the city to attend schools everyday.
The number of children born in Hong Kong to mainland parents had shot up 34 per cent from 18,816 in 2007 to 25,269 in 2008.
