Hong Kong pupils given harsh life lesson on value of hard work as cheers and tears greet allocation of secondary school spots
Education Bureau says number of children and parents happy with outcome is down on last year, while competition for places remains as intense as ever
After the city’s Primary 6 pupils found out which secondary schools they had been assigned to on Tuesday morning, the Au family dashed to four schools in different parts of Hong Kong to ask for a place for their daughter.
Au Kin-wah said the 12-year-old had burst into tears when she learned she had been assigned to Ho Tung Secondary School, her fifth choice.
So, armed with the girl’s academic performance reports, the accountant went to True Light Middle School in Wan Chai to see if there were any vacancies, while his wife and daughter went to True Light’s sister school in Kowloon to appeal for a place. They also went to two other schools after that.
“It is our first time knocking on doors like this, so we didn’t know what to prepare,” Au said.
He added: “I told my daughter she has to bear the consequences … the allocation results are based on the effort she put into her studies.”
