Hong Kong schools see ‘crazy’ surge in number of applications from mainland Chinese pupils
- City public schools struggle with unprecedented rise in number of mainland Chinese applicants, many with poor English-language proficiency
A few secondary schools also had to organise intensive English classes over the summer holidays as prospective pupils’ proficiency was poor, with some scoring less than than 10 out of 100 in entry-language tests.
John Chan*, a veteran secondary school teacher, said staff members were told by their management that the institution was expected to admit dozens of newcomers across different levels in the new academic year, which starts next month, despite the pupils’ poor qualifying results.
“The situation is crazy this year,” he said. “In the past, only a few students were admitted. But now we have more than 20 new students coming into [each of] Form Two and Form Three.
“Almost all students were sent by regional education offices, which we could not turn down.”
But one school principal who asked not to be named told the Post some schools would try to fill as many places as possible “on their own”, to avoid referrals by regional authorities of students with relatively poor academic standards.