LCQ5: Boarding facilities in primary and secondary schools
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Question:
With the arrival of talent and their dependant children following the introduction of a number of talent admission schemes by the Government in recent years, there is an increasing number of non-local students coming to Hong Kong for primary and secondary education. However, it has been reported that as some talent do not have time to take care of their children because they have to work across the boundary, and few primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong have boarding facilities attached to them, boarding services in different modes have emerged in the community. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the following information on primary and secondary schools across the territory which have provided boarding facilities in the past three years: the number of schools, the number and occupancy rate of boarding places, and the proportion of non-local boarding students, together with a breakdown by school type (i.e. public, Direct Subsidy Scheme and private);
(2) whether the authorities have received and approved applications from schools for building additional boarding facilities in the past five years; if so, of the details and the number of boarding places involved;
(3) given that at present the Government has not regulated boarding services, including boarding centres and homestay families, other than those provided by schools, nor formulated comprehensive guidelines on such services, whether the authorities will conduct studies and introduce measures in this regard to enhance the protection of non-local students who come to Hong Kong for primary and secondary education; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) as there are views that with secondary education in Hong Kong currently becoming more diversified, and varied in characteristics, the addition of boarding services in schools can not only help students learn to discipline themselves in life, engage in group collaboration and live independently, but also make it easier for overseas students to come to Hong Kong for research, study and exchanges, whether the authorities will explore the need for addition of boarding facilities in various types of schools, as well as the number of such facilities needed; and
(5) of the current number of idle sites in Hong Kong which are planned for educational use but have not been used to operate schools; whether the authorities have consulted the education sector to understand their intention regarding the use of such sites for boarding facilities and provided assistance to them?
Reply:
President,
Hong Kong's diverse and quality education is one of the factors attracting talent to Hong Kong. In recent years, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has introduced and enhanced various talent schemes to attract talent conducive to Hong Kong's development and enrich the local talent pool. The Education Bureau (EDB) provides various educational support services to facilitate the school placement of accompanying children (i.e. dependants) of individuals admitted to Hong Kong under various talent admission schemes, and help them integrate into the local learning environment as soon as possible.
Our reply to the question raised by the Hon Kenneth Leung is as follows:
(1) The number of ordinary primary and secondary schools across the territory which have provided boarding services and the number of boarding places available from the 2022/23 to 2024/25 school years (Note) are tabulated below:
| School type | No. of primary and secondary schools providing boarding services | Permitted accommodation of the boarding sections |
| Public sector school | 5 | 947 |
| Direct Subsidy Scheme school | 8 | 1 710 |
| Private school | 3 | 902 |
| Total | 16 | 3 559 |
(2) to (4) As the Primary One Admission System in Hong Kong basically depends on parental choice and adopts the principle of vicinity in allocating school places, and parents may arrange for their children to enrol at secondary schools in the same school net, coupled with the well-developed transportation network with its speedy services in Hong Kong, the demand for boarding services is not high for students in primary and secondary schools. In general, the boarding services provided by different types of schools are mainly aimed at enriching local students' learning experience, and cater for the residential needs of a small number of non-local students.
The various talent schemes introduced in recent years are aimed at attracting diversified talent to develop and settle in Hong Kong. If the children of incoming talent who arrive in Hong Kong as dependants of their parents, they would normally live with their parents for better care and adaptation. The children of incoming talent can also enrol to various type of schools like other local students. If those dependants have the need for boarding services, their parents may choose schools that provide boarding services.
If individual schools with educational needs and the existing premises, space and manpower allow, they can submit applications to the EDB to provide boarding facilities and services on a self-financing basis. The EDB has received and approved applications from two schools for building additional ancillary boarding facilities in the past five years, providing 59 and 92 boarding places respectively.
The facilities and management of boarding schools should comply with the relevant stipulations such as the Education Regulations (Cap. 279A). The accommodation arrangements outside schools should also comply with all relevant laws and stipulations. The EDB will closely monitor the residential needs of non-local students, including the boarding facilities provided by different types of schools, and maintain communication with the education sector and relevant government departments to review relevant arrangements in a timely manner.
(5) Vacant school premises and land use for school premises are valuable public resources. Under the prevailing Central Clearing House mechanism for vacant school premises sites, the EDB will review whether the vacant or to-be-vacant school premises are suitable to be retained for primary and secondary school use, having regard to factors such as the size, location and physical conditions of the premises, as well as the educational needs and relevant policy measures. If the vacant or to-be-vacant school premises are not required to be retained for primary and secondary school use, the EDB will release the relevant sites for the Planning Department's consideration of suitable long-term alternative uses.
Since the establishment of the mechanism in 2011, the EDB has released about 260 vacant or to-be-vacant school premises sites, among which about 160 vacant school premises sites have been converted for suitable long-term uses, including uses for public and private housing, social welfare facilities, parks, arts centres and vocational training centres, or put to short-term uses by different government departments, while the remaining some 100 sites are mainly village schools or private land. According to the established school allocation mechanism, upon confirmation that vacant or to-be-vacant school premises or school sites are required for allocation for school uses, the EDB will normally invite applications from all eligible bodies in the territory and make relevant announcements on its website.
Ends/Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Issued at HKT 15:00
Issued at HKT 15:00
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