Seizing opportunities of demographic changes to optimise resources for better education

     With a falling fertility rate and a structural decline in school-age population in recent years, Hong Kong is expecting a corresponding decrease in the demand for school places, which echoes the global phenomenon of low fertility in developed economies. In planning for the future provision of school places, we will accord top priority to the interests of students and aim for a “soft landing” by adjusting the number of schools in a gradual and orderly manner, while seizing the opportunity to optimise the use of public resources and ensure the quality of education.

 

Low fertility: a global challenge

 

     Many countries and regions have responded to the structural decline in student population by reducing their number of schools through various measures. In South Korea, Finland and the United States, for example, governments have decided to cease the operation of certain schools due to a shrinking student population in recent years and, at the same time, provide support for students in choosing a new school.

 

     Another common approach is to merge schools with low enrolment. Taking Singapore as an example, its government will merge such schools having considered their number of students, geographical location and infrastructure capacity. In Taiwan, schools to be merged will be assessed in terms of their resources, accessibility and class size, with due regard to the culture of group learning, community development and cost-effectiveness, etc. so as to facilitate the understanding of teachers, students and parents on the merger strategy and supporting measures.

 

Upgrading school facilities for continuous enhancement of education

 

     Compared with its counterparts in the above regions, the Hong Kong Government has kept putting more resources into education notwithstanding that the drop in school-age population has surfaced since a few years ago. The expenditure on education has seen a cumulative increase by more than 50% over the last decade, demonstrating the Government’s commitment to education.

 

     The Government has been improving the quality of education by investing heavily in the sector. In response to the natural flow of population, we have been planning school building projects ahead based on the projected school-age population and the development needs of individual districts, and gradually improving the school premises and enhancing the school environment and facilities. On the other hand, we have implemented various measures in recent years to enhance learning and teaching, and further improve the overall teacher-to-student ratios in public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme primary and secondary schools. The respective ratios for secondary and primary schools are 1:10.9 and 1:12.0 in the 2022/23 school year, outperforming those in other developed economies.

 

     With a declining school-age population and a reduced number of schools, the demand for teachers will decrease correspondingly. We will closely monitor the manpower situation of teachers in public sector schools and plan for teacher education places in a prudent manner, with a view to maintaining a stable teaching profession of high quality, while continuing to strengthen professional training for teachers to keep enhancing the quality of education and the overall competitiveness of Hong Kong.

 

Optimal school size for whole-person development

 

     Faced with a structural decline in school-age population, we should grasp the opportunity to redeploy and optimise resources, with a focus on enhancing the overall education quality to meet the various educational needs of students. The total student population in each school should not be too small, lest the diversity in learning and teaching and the social development of students would be hindered. Taking secondary education as an example, if the class size and overall student population of a secondary school are too small, it would affect students’ subject choices, class allocation, and opportunities to participate in diversified learning activities and group interactions, which may go against the principle of whole-person development of the New Senior Secondary academic structure.

 

     As regards primary education, we have been adopting the policy of “consolidating high cost and under-utilised primary schools”, which aims to provide quality education for students, promote schools’ continuous development, optimise the use of public resources, and address the impact of overall under-enrolment on the social development of students. When there is a sufficient provision of school places in a particular school net and the number of students allocated to the public sector primary schools therein under the Primary One Admission System is too small, the school sponsoring bodies (SSBs) concerned may consider a strategic merger of schools with similar philosophies and curricula, thereby creating a more suitable schooling environment for enhanced quality of learning and teaching.

 

     In addition, we will seize the opportunity to expedite the implementation of small class teaching (SCT) in public sector primary schools, so that they can capitalise on the advantages of a small class environment to enhance students’ learning effectiveness. Upon reviewing the latest situations such as the availability of classrooms in individual districts and school nets, the demand for school places, the needs of school development and the availability of existing resources, we have already arranged 31 schools to start implementing SCT in the 2023/24 and 2024/25 school years, and arranged for seven additional public sector primary schools to start implementing SCT in the 2024/25 school year. It is expected that by then, over 90% of the public sector primary schools will implement SCT.

 

Consolidating school resources to create synergy

 

     The Education Bureau, being an SSB, has taken the lead in reviewing the sustainable development of government schools and adopting measures in a decisive manner to consolidate resources through various strategies. For example, with a view to providing students with a more suitable teaching and learning environment and richer learning experiences, we would cease the operation of schools with persistent under-enrolment or consider cross-district reprovisioning. The merger of Lung Cheung Government Secondary School and Kowloon Technical School in the 2022/23 school year is an example of rationalising the demand and supply of school places in different districts. Through resource optimisation and allocation, the strengths of the two schools can be further leveraged to enhance synergy and improve students’ learning effectiveness.

 

     We are proactively communicating with SSBs with a view to mapping out options for schools’ development, which include ceasing the operation of schools with prolonged under-enrolment and merging or reprovisioning schools to districts with new demand for school places, through which the impact arising from the structural decline in school-age population could be alleviated as far as possible.

 

Together we look forward to a better future

 

     We believe that SSBs established schools with the intent of providing an ideal learning environment for the whole-person development of students. Such dedication and contributions are evident to all. In the face of demographic changes, we encourage SSBs, in the interest of society at large, to explore feasible options in line with social development. Looking ahead, the Education Bureau will, with the well-being of students as its prime consideration, focus on enhancing the quality of education in Hong Kong. We will work hand in hand with SSBs to explore practical ways to consolidate and integrate school resources for the provision of quality education.

4 April 2023