15 Hong Kong schools risk closure as falling numbers trigger Primary One ban

Fifteen Hong Kong public primary schools are at risk of closing after being banned from operating subsidised Primary One classes in the coming academic year due to insufficient enrolment, with authorities saying the figure is the highest in recent years. But Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also warned on Tuesday that more closures were expected if school operators refused to plan for mergers. The institutions at risk comprise one government and 14 subsidised schools, with Deputy Secretary for Education Ida Lee Bik-sai describing the number as “a record high in recent years”. Among the tally is city leader John Lee Ka-chiu’s alma mater, the Five Districts Business Welfare Association School in Sham Shui Po. Others include Shau Kei Wan Government Primary School in Eastern district and the Fresh Fish Traders’ School in Tai Kok Tsui. Choi noted that the number of students joining the Primary One allocation system for the 2026-27 school year had dropped by 4,000 compared with 2025-26, resulting in 15 public primary schools being unable to secure the required 16 students each to operate a Primary One class. In comparison, two schools had insufficient enrolment in 2025-26. Choi said the worst was yet to come due to the structural decline in the student population. “The number may fall further next year if you notice the declining birth rate. We have to turn a new page today and use new thinking to tackle the problem,” she said. “Only planning one step ahead cannot offer us a stable environment.” According to the Education Bureau, the number of six-year-olds is forecast to drop from this year’s figure of 47,000 to 38,300 in 2035. Under the current policy, a local school must secure at least 16 students to run one subsidised Primary One class. Schools that fail to secure one class have to submit survival plans to the government and face closure after three years if the plans are not approved. On Tuesday, the bureau sent a letter to each school telling them how many Primary One classes they could operate in the new academic year. Institutions singled out for low enrolment are required to merge with other schools or operate their own Primary One classes on a self-financing basis. One of the affected schools is already in the process of merging, while another had already resorted to a self-financing strategy in the past and had no choice but to merge or close. Choi said the government had already used various relief measures to soften the impact of a shrinking population. “We encourage school sponsoring bodies to plan ahead, not to wait until the number of Primary One students drops to one or even zero. They should consider mergers to upgrade schools, but not plans to save them,” she said. “School stakeholders may miss their schools after mergers, but we have to understand that the existence of schools is for students’ future, not their history. “A large number of schools that are too small in scale are clearly detrimental to the stable development of education in Hong Kong.” The number of babies born in Hong Kong in 2020, who are set to enrol in schools this September, stood at 43,700. The figure represents a 20 per cent decrease from the number of births in 2019. The annual number of babies born from 2021 to 2025 further dipped below 40,000, with only 31,100 births last year. Choi said on Tuesday that authorities would implement more incentives to encourage mergers. Authorities plan to allow merged schools a one-time exemption from submitting survival plans if they fail to admit enough students to operate one Primary One class in the first three years of the merger. Polly Chan Shuk-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Aided Primary School Heads Association, urged the bureau to fully implement small-class teaching in all public primary schools with about 25 students in each class, as some schools still had about 30 pupils per class. But she said no school would want to consider mergers if it could still operate independently. “But I think school sponsoring bodies will be proactive in considering the possibility of merging, as the root of the problem is the low birth rate. Our sector knows the situation will only become worse in the coming years,” Chan said. Ricky Ng Wing-hung, principal of Buddhist Lim Kim Tian Memorial Primary School, said that the number of births already indicated how much worse the situation would become for schools. “The number of schools facing closure will only increase, as the birth figures already show. The worst thing is, we don’t know when the number will pick up,” he said.

15 Hong Kong schools risk closure as falling numbers trigger Primary One ban

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Education minister Christine Choi also warns more closures expected if school operators refuse to plan for mergers

Education minister Christine Choi also warns more closures expected if school operators refuse to plan for mergers