Almost half of pupils secure Primary One spots at preferred Hong Kong schools, highest in 15 years
- Education Bureau says 43,755 children landed place at school of choice during discretionary admission stage
- Results for the first stage to be released on Monday
Almost half of all pupils have secured a Primary One spot at their preferred school in Hong Kong for the next academic year, the highest in 15 years, amid a shrinking student population and a falling number of births.
The Education Bureau on Friday said 43,755 children, or 49.6 per cent, had landed a place during the discretionary admission stage, when half of the city’s total Primary One spots at local schools were assigned, before the central allocation exercise in February for unsuccessful candidates.
The 2 percentage point increase in the success rate from last year was also the highest at least since 1997. Results for the discretionary admission stage will be released on Monday.
Students can only apply for one government or aided primary school placement during this stage.
Among the 21,724 discretionary places offered this year, 11,790 were given to children with siblings studying or parents working at the schools.
The remaining 9,934 pupils were admitted through a points system. More points are given to firstborn children, those with the same religious affiliation as the school, and to those whose parents attended the same institution when they were kids.
Under the two-part scheme, each school earmarks the other half of its Primary One spots for the central allocation stage. Among these placements, 10 per cent are allotted for a choice of schools in or outside the pupil’s school net, or district, where they live, while the remaining 90 per cent covers institutions in their net based on address.