Parents to receive school choice documents for Secondary One allocation
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     Parents of Primary 6 students participating in the current (2016) cycle of the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System will soon receive documents on the choice of secondary schools from their children's primary schools, a spokesman for the Education Bureau (EDB) said today (April 14).

     Primary schools participating in the SSPA System have been informed to collect the following documents today:

* Secondary One Choice of Schools Form (Choice Form);
* Notes for Parents on Central Allocation (Notes for Parents);
* Secondary School List (SSL); and
* Handbook for Unrestricted School Choices (Handbook).

     Primary schools should distribute the above documents to parents as soon as possible. Each Primary 6 student will be given a copy each of the Choice Form, Notes for Parents and the SSL for the school net he/she belongs to. Parents may refer to the Handbook distributed to primary schools or obtain the school lists in the Handbook through the EDB's homepage (www.edb.gov.hk) and the fax service of the EDB's automatic telephone enquiry system on 2891 0088.

     "The Choice Form is divided into two parts (Part A and Part B). Parents should refer to the Handbook when filling in Part A 'Unrestricted School Choices' of the Choice Form and choose not more than three secondary schools from any school nets (including the student's school net). As for Part B 'Restricted School Choices', parents should refer to their child's SSL and choose a maximum of 30 secondary schools according to their preference. Parents must not enter any school choices which are not in the SSL of the school net of the child in Part B since invalid school choices will not be processed," the spokesman said.

     The spokesman reminded parents that prior to making school choices for their children, they should read carefully the Notes for Parents. Parents are encouraged to watch the DVD distributed to them in October last year to understand in detail the SSPA System. Parents should also refer to the Secondary School Profiles 2015/2016 published in December last year by the Committee on Home-School Co-operation for information supplied by the secondary schools and visit the Secondary School Profiles homepage (www.chsc.hk/secondary) for the schools' latest developments.

     "Parents must complete and return the Choice Form to their children's primary schools for submission to the EDB on or before May 4 (Wednesday)," the spokesman said.

     Parents who have questions in completing the Choice Form are advised to consult their children's primary schools. Relevant information about the SSPA System and some frequently asked questions have also been uploaded to the EDB's homepage (www.edb.gov.hk) for parents' reference.

     Parents may call the EDB's automatic telephone enquiry system on 2891 0088 for information. Further enquiries may also be directed to the School Places Allocation Section (SSPA) on 2832 7740 and 2832 7700.

Ends/Thursday, April 14, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:02

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