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William Yiu

Almost half of Hong Kong pupils have secured a Primary One spot at their preferred school for the next academic year, down by about 0.5 percentage points from last year, amid a shrinking student population.
The Education Bureau said on Friday that 41,781 children were applying for discretionary places in government and aided primary schools, with results to be available to parents on Monday.
Among the children, 20,644 were offered a place in these schools, or 49.41 per cent of all applicants.
This figure was 0.47 percentage points lower than the 49.88 per cent level last year.
Each applicant is only allowed to apply for one aided or government school in this stage.
Among the discretionary places offered, 10,644 were given to children whose siblings are studying in or whose parents are working at the applied schools, which must admit those applicants.
The remaining 10,000 were selected according to a points system, under which extra points are given to firstborn children, those with the same religious affiliation as the school and to those whose parents are alumni.

The number of students applying for aided and government primary schools through the allocation system has now fallen for five years in a row, hitting a 15-year low.
Under the Primary One admission system, each government or aided primary school may make use of about 50 per cent of its Primary One places as discretionary places. The approximate 50 per cent of places remaining will be reserved for central allocation at a later stage.
Parents of children who have been offered a discretionary place should register on Wednesday or Thursday next week at the school to which they have applied.
Those who have failed to secure a discretionary place must enter the central allocation in January, the results of which will be announced in June.
Applicants in this year’s allocation system were generally born in 2019, when the number of births stood at 52,900.
The number of births dropped sharply in 2020, when about 43,000 babies were born, and fewer than 40,000 in each of the years from 2021 and 2023.


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News

Hong Kong

Education

Number of students applying for aided and government primary schools through the allocation system also hits 15-year low


Number of students applying for aided and government primary schools through the allocation system also hits 15-year low.


Hong Kong society

Hong Kong youth