Authorities urged to cut class sizes, attract mainland Chinese pupils to ensure Hong Kong schools’ survival

Educators argue the government should consider alternatives to simply closing schools as enrolment drops

The calls came after a new Education Bureau paper projected a substantial, ‘structural’ decline in the number of students in the years to come

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Those in the education field have urged authorities to consider alternatives to axing underenrolled schools. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 9:39pm, 13 Oct 2021Updated: 9:41pm, 13 Oct 2021

Educators have called on authorities to cut class sizes and attract more cross-border pupils to ensure Hong Kong schools’ survival, after a new government paper projected a substantial, “structural” decline in the student population in the years to come.

The Education Bureau paper, set to be discussed in a Legislative Council panel meeting on Monday, reveals that the number of six-year-old pupils in the city will fall by 14.5 per cent – from 58,500 to 50,000 – between 2022 and 2029. The number of 12-year-old pupils will drop by roughly 5 per cent, from 63,100 to 60,100, over the same period.

“The changes in future student population will be completely different from those in the past decade or so, and it is anticipated that the gradual decrease in future school-age population will not be transient but structural,” the paper reads.

The number of children born in Hong Kong has been trending downward for years, from around 60,900 in 2016 to some 52,900 in 2019 – a 14 per cent drop. It fell even further in 2020 against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, hitting a 20-year low of 43,031. By comparison, 46,965 children were born in 2003 during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) crisis.

“As such, we expect that there will be another significant decline in the population of [Primary One students] in 2026 and that of [Secondary One students] in 2032,” the paper notes. “In addition, it remains uncertain whether and when the birth rate in Hong Kong will rebound after the pandemic.

“As the future school-age population will continue to drop, it is necessary to adjust the number of primary and secondary classes correspondingly.”

The government has long had a policy of shuttering underenrolled schools or relocating them to newly developed areas with higher demand. As such, the bureau revealed in its paper that it would begin gradually closing the Island Road Government Primary School in Aberdeen starting this year, and would move the Shau Kei Wan East Government Secondary School to Kwun Tong by 2026.

The number of six-year-old pupils in the city is set to decline by 14.5 per cent in the next eight years. Photo: Sam Tsang