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In response to media enquiries on under-enrolment in secondary schools raised during a discussion forum of an organisation, a spokesman for the Education Bureau (EDB) said today (August 23) that according to the latest information, there should be fewer than 10 schools that may be unable to enroll at least 67 students in the new school year.
The spokesman said the provision of total number of secondary one places for the new school year is comparable to that of last year while the number of students taking part in Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) has dropped by 5,000. With a decreased student population, it is inevitable that the number of students allocated to individual schools differs from that of last year.
Relief measures announced by EDB
The EDB has all along been very concerned about the decreased student population brought about by a declining birth rate. Therefore, the Secretary for Education announced earlier that additional recurrent expenditure of $1.4 billion will be spent on a series of measures to alleviate the pressure on the student admission in schools and maintain the stable development of schools:
* The most crucial measure is that the basis for operating one Secondary 1 (S1) class will be reduced to 33 students starting from next month (September). With this measure in place, secondary schools enrolled with 67 S1 students will be considered as meeting the minimum requirement of having three classes. Under this circumstance, the average number of students per class will actually be 23. In the 2009/10 school year, the minimum requirement for operating one class will be further reduced to 30 students, which means an average of 21 students per class.
* In the 2009/10 school year, the number of students allocated to each S1 class under SSPA will be reduced to 36. This number will be further reduced to 34 in the subsequent two school years. Besides, the number of students capped in each S1 class will also be reduced to 38, and then to 36. We have already committed to review the class size in the 2011/12 school year.
* We are providing new grants and advancing the release date, including the Learning Support Grant and Senior Secondary Curriculum Support Grant, so that schools can increase teaching posts and employ more staff.
Minimum number of classes to be operated
The spokesman reiterated that under the new senior secondary (NSS) curriculum, schools should operate at a scale that allows students to have access to a broad and balanced curriculum, with various combinations of subject electives that provide options for students to meet their individual needs. For the benefit of students, the most desirable school size will be between 24 to 30 classes, with 18 classes (i.e. three classes for each level) being the minimum threshold.
From the education point of view, if the number of classes is too small, schools can provide only a very limited choice of subjects to students because of limited resources. It will run against the rationale of allowing students a reasonable chance to choose from different subject combinations to suit their needs. Thus, the learning and development of students will be hampered.
Development options
The spokesman said, 'For schools which are not able to recruit the minimum number of students required to operate three S1 classes, we provide the following development options for them to apply for in taking forward their development:
(i) injection of additional resources by school sponsors;
(ii) merging / collaboration with other schools;
(iii) undergoing Special Review;
(iv) operating junior secondary classes on "per capita" subvention mode; or
(v) joining the Direct Subsidy Scheme or turning to private schools.'
The spokesman stressed that there will be sufficient teaching posts in the secondary school sector to ensure that teachers¡¦ employment opportunities will not be affected. If students are affected, EDB will offer them placement services to ensure that they can continue their studies in other schools, the spokesman added.
Ends/Saturday, August 23, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:19
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