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LCQ 9: Schooling of ethnic minority children
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    Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Man-kwong and a written reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Professor Arthur K C Li, in the Legislative Council today (December 13):

Question:

     In reply to my question at the Council meeting on July 6 2005, the Secretary for Education and Manpower said that for the Education and Manpower Bureau, "ethnic minority children" generally refer to South Asian (mainly Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese) children who currently reside in Hong Kong.  Regarding their schooling, will the Government inform this Council of:

(a)  the number of ethnic minority students in Hong Kong in the 2006/2007 school year, and among them, the respective numbers of primary and secondary school students; and

(b)  the respective current numbers of secondary and primary schools in Hong Kong which admit ethnic minority children, together with the names of these schools by districts and their intake of ethnic minority children?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a)  According to the provisional information obtained by this Bureau, 3,390 students studying in public-sector schools (including government, aided and caput schools) in the 2006/07 school year have reported that they belong to the ethnic groups of Indians, Pakistanis and Nepalese.  Among them, 470 are secondary school students and 2,920 are primary school students.  Since we are still compiling the data of schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS), we are not in a position to provide relevant data in respect of DSS schools for the time being.  We have to point out that in furnishing the data, each student is required to use only one "ethnicity" code.  Students reportedly falling under the above ethnic groups may include those mix-raced students with one parent of Chinese or other ethnic origins.
 
(b)  Based on the above-mentioned provisional information, the students concerned spread across 43 secondary and 141 primary schools.  Since we would need time to further verify the data with individual schools and we have yet to consult the schools on public disclosure of the information, we can only present the number of schools and students by district in general terms as shown in Annex.

Ends/Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:35

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