More than 100 Hong Kong schools to hold education fair to woo mainland Chinese students, but ‘no priority’ in admissions
- As local enrolments dwindle, schools target students arriving with parents through top talent scheme
- December event will showcase range of schools, with talks on education system and on-site interviews
Principals of Hong Kong schools are keen to woo pupils arriving through a new talent scheme but have vowed they will not receive priority in admissions to ensure fairness to all applicants.
Four major local school councils, representing nearly all of the city’s aided and semi-private schools, are organising an education fair for the first time next month, mainly for students from mainland China.
The Post reported earlier that professionals arriving in Hong Kong under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, launched by the government last December, had brought nearly 19,000 children with them.
“After the border reopening and the launch of the Top Talent Pass Scheme, many students are coming to Hong Kong to apply for local schools,” said Dion Chen, chairman of the Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council, one of the co-organisers of the fair.
“They are mainly from the mainland, particularly the Greater Bay Area.”
The bay area refers to Beijing’s initiative to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities into an economic powerhouse.