***********************************************
Parents who want to apply for a Primary One (P1) place in government or aided schools for their children in September next year under the Primary One Admission (POA) System can obtain application forms from today until October 5.
A spokesman for the Education Bureau said today (September 10) that all Hong Kong children born on or before December 31, 2002, were eligible to join the POA System for admission to P1 in September, 2008, provided they had not attended any primary schools and had never been allocated a P1 place."
"Parents of children who are attending kindergartens or kindergarten/child care centres may obtain the application form, explanatory notes on how to complete the application form and an information leaflet from their own kindergartens or kindergarten/child care centres," the spokesman said.
"For parents of the children not attending kindergartens or kindergarten/child care centres, the documents can be obtained from District Offices (Public Enquiry Service Centre) and the bureau's Regional Education Offices and School Places Allocation Section."
The completed application form together with all supporting documents should be submitted directly to a government or an aided primary school of the parent's choice for a POA discretionary place during school office hours on September 28 or between October 2 and 5.
At the Discretionary Places Admission stage, the school chosen is not restricted to the school net in which the child resides. However, parents are strongly advised to take account of possible transport problems when selecting a school not in their neighbourhood.
"Only one application should be submitted for each child. If parents are found to have applied to more than one government or aided primary school, their application for a POA discretionary place will be rendered void," the spokesman said.
If parents are to apply only for the POA Central Allocation, they may return the completed application forms, with supporting documents, during the period from September 28, 2007, to January 25, 2008, to the bureau's School Places Allocation Section at 2/F, Lui Kee Education Services Centre, 269 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai.
"When completing the POA Application Form, parents should fill in the actual residential address of their child. If a false address is given by parents to secure a P1 place for their child under the POA System, the application will be rendered void and the P1 place allocated will be withdrawn. People are encouraged to report suspected cases of using false address for POA applications to the School Places Allocation Section by calling the hotline at 2832 7700," the spokesman said.
Information on procedures for the different stages of POA is available from the bureau's 24-hour hotline at 2891 0088 and its homepage (http://www.edb.gov.hk ) (Path: Kindergarten, Primary and Secondary Education>Education System>School Places Allocation Systems>Primary One Admission System).
Parents who wish to enrol their children in the Direct Subsidy Scheme primary schools, private primary schools or primary schools of the English Schools Foundation should apply to these schools direct as they are not included in the POA System. Parents should note that children who have accepted the offer of P1 places in Direct Subsidy Scheme primary schools will not be allocated P1 places in government or aided primary schools through the POA System.
The cyber version of Primary School Profiles 2007 produced by the Committee on Home-School Co-operation for parents' reference in the choice of schools was released today. Parents could receive a copy of the printed version on a district basis through the kindergarten or kindergarten/child care centre their child is attending.
Ends/Monday, September 10, 2007
Issued at HKT 15:27
NNNN
