📋 Tender Overview
Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Lam and a reply by the Secretary for Education Dr Choi Yuklin in the Legislative Council today October 28
Question
According to the 2021 Population Census nearly 50 per cent of fulltime students in Hong Kong have to cross districts to attend school There are views pointing out that the distribution of the schoolage population in certain traditional old districts and new development areas is currently highly polarised and that the development of the Northern Metropolis NM will attract a large number of Mainland and overseas talent along with their children to Hong Kong which is expected to further alter the schoolage population structure in various districts Regarding the planning of school networks and sites will the Government inform this Council
1 whether it will comprehensively review the existing system for demarcating school networks so as to balance education resources as well as the supply of and demand for school places in various districts if so of the details and the specific timetable if not the reasons for that
2 whether it will seize the opportunities arising from the development of NM to enhance the flexibility of primary and secondary school site planning so that school sponsoring bodies can adjust the scale of school operations in a timely manner in response to future demographic changes if so of the specific measures if not the reasons for that and
3 in order to meet the schooling needs of children of talent coming to Hong Kong in the future of the Governments current assessment of and specific arrangements for the planning of nongovernment sector primary and secondary schools and whether it will adjust the relevant policies and prescribed standards to complement such efforts if so of the details if not the reasons for that
Reply
President
To ensure prudent use of public funds and equitable allocation of education resources and to facilitate parents in choosing suitable school places for their children the Government plans the provision of public sector primary and secondary school places in each district through the schoolnet system The Primary One Admission POA System was established to alleviate the pressure on young children arising from competition for admission to more popular primary schools The fundamental objective of Primary One P1 schoolnet planning is to enable children to attend schools in close proximity to their homes and to ensure that they are allocated public sector school places within their home districts or neighbouring areas Accordingly P1 school nets are relatively small in size and some are further subdivided on the basis of administrative districts to avoid excessively long journeys to and from schools for young children Similarly secondary school nets under the Secondary School Places Allocation SSPA System are demarcated along administrative district boundaries in order to reduce students travelling time In conducting the annual review of school nets the P1 Admission Committee and the Secondary School Places Allocation Committee take into account factors such as administrative district boundaries number of schools supply of and demand for school places and traffic conditions
The Government also annually reviews the supply of and demand for school places in individual districts in light of changes in the schoolage population and adjusts the supply of places dynamically so as to ensure that all eligible children are allocated public sector school places Besides the Government is committed to providing parents with diverse education choices Direct Subsidy Scheme DSS schools international schools and private schools admit students territorywide and are not subject to schoolnet restrictions Under the public sector school place allocation mechanism a suitable proportion of places is also reserved for parents to choose schools outside their own districts The 2021 figures cited by the Member which cover postsecondary institutions secondary schools primary schools and kindergartens across the territory in fact reflect the abovementioned mechanisms operating as designed
In response to the questions and views raised by the Hon Andrew Lam our consolidated reply is as follows
First regarding the schoolnet system the current P1 school nets are delineated based on administrative districts with the 18 districts across the territory divided into 36 school nets Under the SSPA Secondary One S1 places are allocated by school nets following the 18 administrative districts The fundamental principle underpinning the schoolnet system is to ensure that schoolage children are allocated public sector school places within their home districts or neighbouring areas At the same time parents may choose schools outside their designated school nets through the Discretionary Places Stage and Part A of the Central Allocation Stage thereby preserving a degree of flexibility under the principle of fairness Each year the Government assesses dynamically the supply of and demand for school places in individual districts taking into account factors such as the schoolage population and district development and adjusts the supply of school places flexibly as circumstances require Where necessary and following consultation with relevant stakeholders the Government may also make minor refinements to the delineation of individual schoolnet boundaries so as to make good use of education resources The mechanism for allocating primary and secondary school places by school nets is longestablished and widely accepted by the community The stability of school nets is of particular importance to both school development and parental choice The Government has no plan to undertake a comprehensive review of the schoolnet system for the time being
Second on enhancing land use flexibility in support of the Northern Metropolis NM development the Government has reserved school sites at the urban planning stage i
