94% of Hong Kong public schools partner mainland China institutions: Education Bureau
- As of May, 935 schools formed sister pairings with mainland counterparts to foster exchange and national identity, education authorities say
About 94 per cent of public and semi-private schools in Hong Kong have formed partnerships with mainland China counterparts to foster exchange and national identity among students, according to education authorities.
The Education Bureau also revealed that it had granted nearly HK$130 million (US$16.6 million) for the “Sister School Scheme” in the last academic year, and had no plan to extend funding to private and international institutions.
The bureau said in a written reply to the Legislative Council on Wednesday that 935 schools in Hong Kong had formed 2,933 sister pairings with their mainland counterparts as of last month.
Those schools include public and special ones, as well as those under the direct subsidy scheme (DSS). Each of the local schools can pair up with more than one mainland institution.
“Schools arrange exchange activities, such as school visits, student activities, seminars, teaching demonstrations, lesson evaluation, video conferencing and experience sharing, with their sister schools at student, teacher and school management levels based on their school-based development needs,” Choi Yuk-lin, Secretary for Education, said in the reply.
Schools that are paired with mainland institutions represent 94 per cent in Hong Kong, given the city has 991 public, DSS and special institutions.
The government launched the sister school scheme” in 2004 to encourage pairings with their mainland counterparts, with a goal of broadening students’ horizons and enhancing their sense of national identity.
Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu had said in his 2022 police address that the government planned to raise the number of local schools participating in the scheme by 10 per cent by the end of last year.
Back then, around 780 schools had established over 2,100 sister school pairs with their mainland counterparts. That meant there was an increase of 20 per cent of schools of pairings forged since then.
A recurrent grant, HK$163,000 per school for the current school year, will be granted to schools signing the partnerships with their mainland counterparts.
In the last school year, HK$129.31 million were offered to the schools joining the scheme.
Asked if the scheme would be extended to include international schools, Minister Choi said the government had no such plan to cover private and international ones as they were self-funded.
But she said the bureau would continue to encourage them to promote students’ understanding of Chinese history and culture.
