More Hong Kong schools at risk of closing as authorities tighten class size rules
Advertisement
Members of the sector said on Tuesday they expected the new measures would speed up the closure of less popular schools, while students with poor academic performance might even be asked to repeat the same grade to meet the enrolment threshold.
The Education Bureau, which announced the measures in a circular to secondary schools, said the move aimed to protect students' interests.
'The Education Bureau estimates that the number of Form One students aged 12 will drop from 58,800 in 2025 to 49,800 in 2031,' Ida Lee Bik-sai, Ida, deputy secretary for education, wrote in Insider's Perspectives, the bureau's online blog.
'The Education Bureau must … revise the arrangements related to class structure and support measures to safeguard students' learning interests.'
Advertisement
The measures included raising the minimum number of students required for secondary school to operate a Form One class from 25 to 27 starting in the new term in September. The threshold will be further raised to 29 in 2026-27.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
43 minutes ago
- South China Morning Post
China steps up economic monitoring, looking to head off worst-case scenarios
Amid erratic US tariff threats and with the world economy in flux, China's top economic planner says that more economic monitoring and early-warning capabilities are needed. Advertisement The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is soliciting studies to assess the impacts of US tariffs and to refine China's existing monitoring indicators 'in the context of global economic and trade order restructuring'. It also plans to evaluate how non-tariff barriers of various countries might impact China's economy, according to a notice published on its website in late June. From the central bank to the commerce ministry, China already employs a vast system to monitor its economic health. However, the NDRC's fresh push signals the desire for a more nuanced and forward-looking approach as it helps draft the country's 2026-2030 development blueprint. 'This might need to be of higher frequency and more capable of reflecting the real economy,' said Shao Yu, director of the Shanghai Institution for Finance and Development. Advertisement Shao expects that changes to the economic-monitoring system will help China better navigate the volatility and competition that he expects to intensify in the future. 'While existing systems might focus on indicators such as trade balances and financial market volatility, future systems will likely dive deeper into supply-chain security, technology, and monetary stability,' he said.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Von der Leyen deepens gloom over China-EU summit with attack on Beijing's Russia stance
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made some of her strongest criticisms of China to date on Tuesday, laying into Beijing's stance on Russia and its policies on trade. The speech at the European Parliament was designed to set out the hawkish German's stall ahead of a major showdown with China's leaders in two weeks. It showed that from the European perspective, the outlook for that summit is getting increasingly gloomy. What was supposed to be a two-day summit has been reduced to one, according to diplomatic sources. A second day in Hefei where the sides were slated to meet with business groups was cancelled at Beijing's request. Two sources said discussions have now moved to hosting the round table in Beijing on July 24 – the same day as the summit. It is thought that Hefei, a city in Anhui province, was chosen to generate some positive mood music ahead of the summit.
South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Trump's fresh tariffs on East Asia, China's rare earth dominance: SCMP daily highlights
Catch up on some of SCMP's biggest China stories of the day. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing US President Donald Trump, apparently impatient with the slow progress of negotiations, on Monday slapped 25 per cent unilateral tariffs on Japan and South Korea and equal or higher import taxes on several other nations ahead of a self-imposed Wednesday deadline. Beijing's recent export controls on rare earths have spurred a flurry of international efforts to diversify supply chains and reduce China's long-standing dominance in critical minerals. When US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday to extend a pause on 'reciprocal' tariffs until August 1, it offered little comfort to China. Instead, Beijing's policymakers may feel increasingly cornered, as Washington also moved to target 14 countries – many of them China's close trading partners – with tariffs of up to 40 per cent.
