LettersHong Kong’s under-enrolled primary schools can be overhauled more painlessly
Readers discuss the predicament of under-enrolled primary schools, effective fire prevention, and how to foster a tech ecosystem
What is the best way to resolve the predicament of under-enrolled primary schools in Hong Kong? There are currently 591 primary schools, most of which are subsidised and under the management of sponsoring organisations; about 30 are government-operated.
Although some primary schools have become superfluous because of changing demographics related to immigration and birth rates, there are relief measures to ameliorate the adverse effects on all stakeholders. As a school manager of a secondary school, I observe that most of the under-enrolled schools spare no effort in providing unwavering support to their students. The Education Bureau should give them enough resources and funding to enhance their competitiveness. They should be able to offer unique propositions for their sustainability, such as small-class teaching and catering to special educational needs.
Mergers might be feasible if two primary schools are operated by the same sponsoring organisation but the structural changeover requires the Education Bureau’s blessing, and involves reprovision of teaching material, renovation costs and personnel reshuffle.
Although closing down primary schools is the last resort, it will cause less impact if only government-operated primary schools are involved. In general, the government can save public coffers by closing down the primary schools it operates. The teaching staff, mostly civil servants, can be readily deployed to other government departments as transfers. In the case of subsidised primary schools, the resultant redundancy would lead to a lot of conflict and controversy.