A proposed university town in Hong Kong will set aside vacant land to capitalise on future opportunities arising from social and technological changes, a minister has said, days after a top official revealed that the project size could be tripled to 300 hectares (741 acres). Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin on Wednesday told the…
A Hong Kong government-funded online portal that provides resources for teachers and school students has failed to meet its user number target, with thousands of items never being downloaded, viewed or used, according to an audit report. The Audit Commission report, which was released on Wednesday, also cited remarks from the executive director of Hong…
Hong Kong’s education minister has said the surge in students diagnosed with mental illness partly reflects parents’ growing acceptance and openness about the issue, while academic pressures, social lives and physical health also play a role. The remarks by Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin came after the Education Bureau revealed that the number of…
Eight international school operators in Hong Kong, including the city’s largest group, failed to admit enough non-local students this academic year, breaching their pledge to the government. The English Schools Foundation (ESF) said it had been increasing the proportion of “non-local passport holders” since the end of the pandemic, but noted it might take several…
Hong Kong’s Baptist University placed a big bet when it told the government in 2023 that it was interested in moving its campus from the upmarket Kowloon Tong residential area to a proposed new academic town near the mainland Chinese border. The 70-year-old university’s move to the Northern Metropolis megaproject will mean giving up a…
Hong Kong’s education authorities plan to establish an “internationally benchmarked” version of the city’s university entrance exam on a pilot basis to allow foreign students to apply for admission to higher education institutions both locally and in mainland China. They revealed that technical explorations and studies with relevant bodies on developing the international version of…
Closing struggling Hong Kong schools in the short term will prevent future problems for parents, the education minister has said, warning that the city has already exhausted all mitigation measures to reduce the impact of the shrinking pupil population. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Wednesday that the problem of under-enrolment remained unresolved…
Fifteen Hong Kong public primary schools are at risk of closing after being banned from operating subsidised Primary One classes in the coming academic year due to insufficient enrolment, with authorities saying the figure is the highest in recent years. But Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also warned on Tuesday that more closures were…
Hong Kong hit a record low in births last year despite a range of government incentives, including a HK$20,000 (US$2,560) baby cash bonus for new parents launched in 2023. Just 31,714 babies were born last year. This might have come as a surprise for the authorities, which had projected a rise to 39,000 births. So…
Hong Kong authorities have defended a controversial subsidy cut for the kindergarten sector for the coming financial year, saying the low birth rate and resultant shrinking pupil population have prompted a reassessment of education policy priorities. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said on Friday that the government would channel more resources towards promoting “high-quality…