Hong Kong urged to open up primary school enrolments to more mainland Chinese pupils amid record-low births
- ‘Unprecedented level of pessimism’ among principals, says So Ping-fai, new chairman of Subsidised Primary Schools Council
- So calls for allowing more children from Greater Bay Area to enrol locally in primary schools beyond those with current right to study in city
The new chairman of Hong Kong’s Subsidised Primary Schools Council has urged the government to help the city’s public institutions survive by allowing them to take in more pupils from mainland China.
Veteran educator So Ping-fai said the city’s shrinking student population was threatening to not only shut down schools but also put teachers’ jobs at risk.
“The high level of pessimism among the principals is unprecedented,” he said. “The government should pay attention as it is not ideal for everyone to live in such a pessimistic state … The bleak, unstable outlook is affecting students and lots of teachers who have families.”
So, who is the principal of Tin Shui Wai Methodist Primary School, is due to retire at the end of the current academic year. The educator with more than 30 years’ experience was elected council chief in November.
The falling number of babies born in Hong Kong has hit enrolments, with worse expected.
The number of births fell from 52,900 in 2019 to 43,000 in 2020, 37,000 in 2021 and a low of 32,500 last year.
The council represents 422 primary schools, and So said he feared that the number who might face the axe would be “not too few”.