Hong Kong lawmaker takes aim at Education Bureau over soon-to-close Rosaryhill Secondary School

Legislator Tik Chi-yuen issued the ultimatum to the Education Bureau on Sunday, saying it also should pay attention to the emotions of all those involved with Rosaryhill Secondary School in Wan Chai and clearly explain how it would handle any closures in the future.

“If the Education Bureau does not answer these three questions well, then we will head to the ombudsman,” he said, giving it a month to meet the demands.

Rosaryhill’s sponsoring body, the Dominican Missions, originally aimed to close the school in the 2025-26 academic year and to stop admitting new pupils in 2024, when it announced its closure plan in September 2023, citing enrolment and financial problems.

Under that proposal, Form Four and Five students would have been allowed to continue their studies in the school, while junior pupils would join the bureau’s placement allocation process after completion of Form Three.

But the government-aided secondary school changed its plans in January, telling parents that Form One to Five pupils would transfer to Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No 2 (YCK2), in Pok Fu Lam starting from next term, drawing the ire of some parents.

Tik said he would meet the bureau over the issue in the coming weeks, and urged it to satisfy the three key demands or he would file a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman, the public administration watchdog.