Hong Kong lawmakers urge school placement help after poll shows 60% of expats bring children
- 368 of 597 respondents say they had at least one child studying in the city, while one in five say they are temporarily unemployed
More than 60 per cent of people coming to Hong Kong under various talent schemes brought their children with them, according to a survey released on Thursday, prompting lawmakers to call for more support in securing school placements.
The survey also found that one in five respondents were temporarily unemployed, according to Hong Kong Top Talent Services Association and the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers who conducted the study last month.
Among the 597 respondents, 368 said they had at least one child studying in Hong Kong. Families with one child studying in the city made up 31.16 per cent, while those with two accounted for 26.13 per cent. Families with three or more made up 4.36 per cent.
Lawmaker Jesse Shang Hailong, who chairs the association, said the poll results highlighted the city’s diverse education system as a major draw for top talent, but called for more support to help their children secure school places.
“I have visited a through-train school in Tai Wai, after the Top Talent Pass Scheme, the waiting list for that school has already exceeded 10,000 students,” Shang said. “This indicates a major problem with our quality education supply.”
Pupils in through-train schools have direct access to an affiliated secondary institution.
Wei Cheng, a 38-year-old exporter who came to Hong Kong from the Chinese province of Jiangsu under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, said his children’s education was the main reason he decided to come to the city.