補習-Concern over squeeze in international school places

Legislators yesterday slammed the government for failing to provide enough international school places on Hong Kong Island.

Civic Party lawmaker Audrey Eu Yuet-mee told the Legislative Council that many employees of multinational firms have moved to Hong Kong with their families for work reasons.

Most of them live on Hong Kong Island, where the supply of international school places is tight.

“We have been aware of the problem, but the government has got no clue about how to solve it,” Eu said.

The government, she added, has failed to make use of vacant school sites for international school development on the island.

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According to data from the Education Bureau, 37 primary and secondary school premises have become vacant in the past three years.

But 14 have already been reallocated for educational use, and only two of the schools are located on Hong Kong Island.

Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung acknowledged the high demand for places but said limited land resources make it difficult to build new schools on Hong Kong Island.

“The Education Bureau has been taking a three-pronged approach to promote the development of the international school sector,” Suen said.

“These measures include allocating vacant school premises and greenfield sites for development of international schools, as well as facilitating in-situ expansion of existing international schools.”

He said there will be more than 500 international school places for the coming school year.

According to the bureau, there are about 4,100 places among 47 international schools, of which about 1,900 are at primary level and 2,200 at secondary. However, most of the 4,100 places are in the New Territories and Kowloon.

Suen added that some international schools have taken temporary measures to accommodate children coming to Hong Kong following Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami and the resulting nuclear crisis. That was done largely through utilizing vacancies in their schools.

But the relocation of employees from Japan will not have a significant impact on the demand for international school places, he added.

“Most of these students stayed in Hong Kong on a short-term and temporary basis, and many of them have returned to Japan or other areas to continue their studies.”