Gov’t taskforce to facilitate mergers of primary schools with low enrolment as student numbers plunge

2026-03-22 - 23:33

A special Hong Kong government taskforce dedicated to making public schools sustainable will help primary schools with low enrolment to merge, the city’s education chief has said. It comes as 15 risk closure in the next academic year due to insufficient student intake. Primary school students in Hong Kong. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. Speaking on a TVB programme on Sunday, Secretary for Education Christine Choi said the number of pupils in Hong Kong has declined significantly in the past decade, while the number of schools remained roughly the same. “The number of school-age children has dropped by 60,000 to 70,000 in the past decade. Over the same period, we saw only two primary schools closing,” she said in Cantonese. Her remarks came after the government said that 15 primary schools across 10 districts failed to enrol the minimum of 16 pupils required to open Primary One classes. Those schools have been urged to consider merging. ‘Sustainable learning environment’ Choi said on Sunday that, given over half of those schools were not backed by a sponsoring body, the government has been considering how to encourage more established schools to merge with them. The mergers should aim at improving the quality of education instead of just preserving schools, she said, adding that authorities will evaluate whether two “weak schools” – those operating only one Primary One class in recent years – can merge. “It will depend on whether the merger can provide a stable and sustainable learning environment to students,” she said. But Choi said the current administration will not adjust the minimum student intake requirement for primary schools, adding that the government has been formulating a “five-year plan,” which may study the long-term trend of a falling population. Secretary for Education Christine Choi meets the press after Chief Executive John Lee announced his second Policy Address on October 27, 2023. File photo: Kyle Lam/HKFP. She also said the government had no plans to relax limits on non-local student intake, as authorities do not expect a large influx of foreign students into the city in the foreseeable future. The Eastern District is the hardest hit, accounting for four schools. Under a policy introduced last year, all aided schools can apply to merge with other schools. If the Education Bureau approves a merger of two schools, the new school can enjoy a one-time exemption to the minimum Primary One student numbers during the three-year transitional period. But if the school still cannot admit 16 pupils afterwards, it will need to close or become private. Hong Kong has seen an ageing population and a record-low number of newborn babies. Citing government statistics, local media reported in January that there were only 31,714 newborn babies registered in 2025 – a record low in the city’s history.