Society

Declining students in HK needs class reduction

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-09-13 23:24
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HONG KONG - Secretary for Education of the Hong Kong government, Michael Suen, said Monday the city needed more schools to participate in the Voluntary Optimization of Class Structure Scheme to address the declining student population issue.

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Suen told reporters that 23 secondary schools had reduced the number of classes of secondary-one S1, or grade one of junior secondary schools, from five to four under the scheme.

Citing figures released by Hong Kong's Census and Statistics Department, Suen said there would be a steady sharp decline in the annual intake of Secondary 1 students in the coming few years.

"It will fall by 21,500 students, from 75,400 in 2009 to 53,900 in 2016, representing a decrease of 28.5 percent," he said.

"We are currently unable to make a more accurate assessment of the situation after 2016, because it depends on the assumption we made about the number of babies born to Chinese mainland parents who will return to Hong Kong for their secondary schooling."

It was unavoidable that the numbers of schools and classes would have to be adjusted to accommodate the drastic decline in student population, and the best course of action is to try to contain the situation and maintain a balanced diversity of schools to cater for students of different abilities.

"We believe this would be the best course of action for stakeholders to take," he said. "We understand it will take time for school sponsoring bodies and various stakeholders to discuss and co-ordinate the future development options where necessary.

"Therefore, for schools which have enrolled less than 61 students to operate three S1 classes in the coming school year, a grace period of one year will be offered to enable them to prepare for their future development," said the official.

In the next few months, the city's government would continue to communicate with various stakeholders to come up with other viable development options, he added.