Hong Kong parents make last-ditch bids to get children into preferred primary schools
- Unhappy with their children’s placements for the coming school year, many show up to apply in person at their top choices
- But while a struggle for some, a surge in student drop-outs over the past year has contributed to the highest allocation success rate in a decade
Hong Kong parents unhappy with their children’s Primary One allocations for the coming school year – despite less competition than usual – are making a last-ditch effort to secure placements at their preferred choices.
But not everyone has benefited from the lessened competition.
“I feel nervous … I’ll have to visit a few schools today,” said a mother surnamed Cheng, who was submitting an application at a Yau Ma Tei primary school on Wednesday morning after receiving notification her child had failed to get into one of her top two choices.
It’s like the Mark Six lottery. You just simply don’t know if you’ll get allocated the preferred school
Statistics from the Education Bureau last week showed about 18,600 of 24,200 six-year-olds had secured a Primary One place at one of their parents’ top three choices in the final allocation stage for the coming school year – an overall satisfaction rate of 77 per cent, the highest in a decade.