Five school operators have been selected for the development of international schools on five locations, Education Secretary Eddie Ng Hak-kim announced on Friday. These locations include two vacant school premises and three greenfield sites.
"The government supports the development of a vibrant international school sector in Hong Kong, mainly to meet the demand for school places from overseas families living in Hong Kong and families coming to Hong Kong for work or investment," said Ng.
"I am encouraged by the keen interest shown by international school operators in the allocation exercise. All of the five successful applicants have committed to allocate 80 per cent or more of the school places to non-local students."
Since March 2014, 40 organisations have applied to the Education Bureau to be one of the operators. Successful applicants include The Harbour School Foundation Limited and ESOL Education HK Ltd, who were granted premises in Ap Lei Chau and Tai Po respectively. French International School "Victor Segalen" Association Ltd and Shrewsbury International School Hong Kong Ltd receive one site each in Tseung Kwan O, while Malvern College Hong Kong Ltd gets a location in Tai Po.
The successful applicants of the vacant school premises and greenfield sites are expected to commence operation during the 2016/17 and 2018/19 school years. It is expected that a total of about 4, 270 school places, comprising of about 3, 490 primary places and 780 secondary places, will be made available on a progressive basis starting from the 2016/17 school year.
International schools in Hong Kong provided about 41, 000 school places in the 2014/15 school year.