Hong Kong public schools witness slight uptick in Form One classes, but educators say student numbers to drop in 2 years

The number later dropped to 57,100 in 2013 after then chief executive Leung Chun-ying announced a “zero-quota” policy to ban mainland Chinese women from having babies in Hong Kong.

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“The small increase in the S1 classes this year was due to the high number of births 12 years ago,” he said. “The expansion of S1 classes in Hong Kong will not last as the Secondary One population will record a drastic fall two years later, in 2025-26.”

The data released on Tuesday also showed 12 public secondary schools recorded an increase in the number of Form One classes in 2023-24.

At HKFEW Wong Cho Bau Secondary School in Tung Chung, where Wong serves as a supervisor, the number of Form One classes had risen from three to five and represented the city’s largest increase.

But another 11 secondary schools had reduced the number of such classes as a result of insufficient student numbers or changes to enrolment arrangements.

Lawmaker Chu Kwok-keung, who represents the education constituency, also said he expected a sharp fall in student numbers in the coming years.

“The current stable situation is just the calm before the storm, the S1 population is going to fall sharply after two years,” he said.

Education authorities earlier estimated that the number of schoolchildren aged 12 would drop from 71,600 this year to 60,100 in 2029.

Over in Wan Chai, Tang Shiu Kin Victoria Government Secondary School and Hotung Secondary School, with both going from three Form One classes each in 2022-23 to two this year.

“I think the Education Bureau will probably merge these two government schools, the government is now paving the way by slashing its S1 classes,” Chu said.

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According to the current policy, schools have to secure at least two Form One classes to make the cut or they must submit survival plans for the government to approve.

Authorities are encouraging schools to merge in response to the shrinking student population to create institutions that have at least two Form One classes.

The Education Bureau said authorities were reviewing the sustainable development of government schools and would formulate long-term development plans after considering a number of factors, such as demand for places by district and the use of public resources.

It added that the number of Form One students was expected to increase for the next academic year.

“According to the current information, the number of students joining the secondary school place allocation system this year is 51,500, seeing an increase of 990 compared to the 50,508 students joining the system last year,” the bureau said.