B.       Pre-primary education/diversified curriculum and education opportunities

C.       Matters related to the placement of newly-arrived children

D.       Medium of instruction

E.       Others

Q1

How old can a child be considered within the universal basic education age?

A1

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is committed to provide nine-year free universal basic education to all eligible local children, including non-Chinese speaking ethnic minority children.  Under the existing policy, all parents must send their children (aged 6 ¡V 15) who have the right of abode in Hong Kong to attend schools.

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Q2

At what age can a child be allocated with a primary 1 school place?

A2

As at 1 September of every year, children who reach the age of 5 years and 8 months can join the Central Allocation system under the Education Bureau (EDB).  For further information, please contact the School Places Allocation Section.

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Q3

For a child already attending a school, if they cannot continue their studies in the original schools for reasons such as moving houses, family financial problems or disputes etc, and have to continue their studies in a new school, how can parents find a new school for them?

A3

i)     Parents should approach the nearby Regional Education Office to seek placement assistance.  Our staff will assist their children as far as possible in getting a new school place to continue their studies.

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ii)    Parents may approach the school directly to apply for a place for their children.  For information of individual schools, please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

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Q4

For children already attending a school, if they do not want to continue their studies in the original schools and want to change to a new school because of personal reasons, such as having different learning aptitudes or abilities, parents looking for alternative curriculum to cultivate their children etc, how can parents obtain useful information and find a suitable school for them?

A4

i)     When choosing a new school for their children, parents should first consider carefully the interests and academic abilities of their children, and choose a suitable school in accordance with their aptitudes and needs.  If they are not interested in the curriculum of traditional grammar schools, parents may consider the schools with relatively more diversified curriculum and contact them directly to apply for a school place.

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Q5

How can newly arrived children get a school place in primary 1 / secondary 1?

A5

Generally speaking, school places in primary 1/secondary 1 are allocated by EDB via the Central Allocation system.  If newly arrived children want to study in primary 1 or secondary 1 at the beginning of a school year (school term normally starts at early September), parents should apply for central allocation with the School Places Allocation Section, EDB bringing the entry identity documents of their children before the new school term starts.  For children arriving in Hong Kong after the commencement of the school term (i.e. after 1 September), parents should bring along their children and their children identity documents, proof of attained academic qualifications and proof of residential address (both originals and photocopies) to register with the Regional Education Offices. Our staff at the Regional Education Offices will assist them in obtaining a school place.

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Q6

How can newly arrived children from the Mainland get a school place in Hong Kong?

A6

Newly arrived children can get placement assistance by the following ways:

i)      Application by using the yellow form: If the newly arrived children enter Hong Kong via Lo Wu, their parents may complete the yellow form and put it into the collection box when they cross the boundary. Our staff will collect the forms every week. The staff of the Placement & Support Section will contact the parents within three days upon receipt of the yellow form and provide placement assistance for their children.

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ii)     Application by using business reply: If the children have arrived in Hong Kong but for certain reasons not yet attended schools, their parents may send the completed business reply to us. The staff of the Placement & Support Section will contact the parents within three days upon receipt of the business reply and  provide placement assistance for their children. If the parents consider that their children can attend school at once, our staff at the Regional Education Offices will make placement arrangement as soon as possible. The business replies are available at the 18 Public Enquiry Service Centres of the Home Affairs Offices.

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iii)    Application to the school direct: Parents may approach the school directly to apply for a place for their children.  For information of individual schools, please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

iv)    Application through Regional Education Offices: Parents may contact the nearby Regional Education Office directly and seek placement assistance.

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Last, children aged 6-15 who are eligible to attend public sector schools could all be provided with a school place by EDB.

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Q7

How can newly arrived children from foreign countries get a school place in Hong Kong?

A7

Newly arrived children from foreign countries can get a school place in Hong Kong by the following ways:

i)    Direct application with school: Parents may contact the school directly to apply for a place for their children. 
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     Ù    For information of individual schools, please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation or refer to "Education for Non-Chinese Speaking Children".
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     Ù    In addition, parents may obtain the leaflet "Your Guide to Services in Hong Kong" at the airport upon arrival or from Home Affairs Offices.  Chapter 15 of the booklet gives a brief introduction to the education service in Hong Kong, with the enquiry telephone numbers and addresses of the Regional Education Offices, Placement and Support Section as well as other related departments.  This booklet is written in English and languages of seven minority groups for the easy reference of parents.
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ii)    Application through Regional Education Offices: Parents may contact the nearby Regional Education Office directly and seek placement assistance.

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Last, children aged 6-15 who are eligible to attend public sector schools could all be provided with a school place by EDB.

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Q1

For children aged under 6 (including newly arrived children) wishing to attend school, how can they get a school place?

A1

i)     Parents may contact the kindergarten directly to apply for a place for their children.

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ii)    Parents may telephone or visit the nearby Regional Education Office to obtain the information of kindergartens.  Parents may also visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

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Q2

For children already attending a school, if they do not want to continue their studies in the original school and want to change to a new school because of personal reasons, such as having different learning aptitudes or abilities, parents looking for alternative curriculum to cultivate their children etc, how can parents obtain useful information and find a suitable school for them?

A2

i)     When choosing a new school for their children, parents should first consider carefully the interests and learning abilities of their children, and choose a suitable school in accordance with their aptitudes and needs.  If they are not interested in the curriculum of traditional grammar schools, parents may consider the schools with relatively more diversified curriculum and contact those schools directly to apply for a place for them.

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ii)    For information of individual schools, please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

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iii)   Parents should approach the nearby Regional Education Office to seek placement assistance.  Our staff will assist their children as far as possible in getting a new school place to continue their studies.

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Q3

For young people who have left schools for a long time and wish to return to schools, what are the ways available?

A3

To encourage life-long learning, EDB is committed to helping young people aged 15-24 who have not completed basic education (i.e. Form 3) or Form 5 to return to schools.  Support services would be provided for them too.  For information details regarding returning to school, please contact the Careers Guidance Team at Tel: 3698 4347.

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Furthermore, the government also encourages students and young people to consider their own abilities and interests when they choose to engage in further studies or return to school.

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Q4

For adults who have not completed basic education (i.e. Form 3) or Form 5, what are the ways available for them to upgrade their qualifications and employment skills?

A4

To encourage life-long learning, EDB updates the information on "Diversified Education Opportunities" regularly for the reference of the public.

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Q1

What supporting documents do non-local children need to have if they are to be enrolled in schools in Hong Kong?

A1

Only those who are holding valid entry identity documents are allowed to attend schools in Hong Kong. For details, please refer to paragraph 5 of the EDB Circular No. 12/2008. Under normal circumstances, non-local children with "student" visas can only enter private schools. Besides, unless approval is obtained from the Director of Immigration, no child whose travel document/passport bears the endorsement "Visitor" over the immigration stamp should be admitted to any schools in Hong Kong.

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Q2

How can newly arrived children get a school place in primary 1 / secondary 1?

A2

Generally speaking, school places in primary 1/secondary 1 are allocated by EDB via the Central Allocation system.  If newly arrived children want to study in primary 1 or secondary 1 at the beginning of a school year (school term normally starts at early September), parents should apply for central allocation with the School Places Allocation Section, EDB bringing the entry identity documents of their children before the new school term starts.  For children arriving in Hong Kong after the commencement of the school term (i.e. after 1 September), parents should bring along their children and their children identity documents, proof of attained academic qualifications and proof of residential address (both originals and photocopies) to register with the Regional Education Offices. Our staff at the Regional Education Offices will assist them in obtaining a school place.

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Q3

If the newly arrived children have been studying in junior or senior secondary classes in the Mainland/overseas, how can their academic levels be aligned with the local education system?

A3

The education system and curriculum of different places are not completely the same. Therefore, as a normal practice, the schools will interview the applicants to assess their suitable class levels before making the placement arrangement.

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Q4

How can newly arrived children from the Mainland get a school place in Hong Kong?

A4

Newly arrived children can get placement assistance by the following ways:

i)    Application by using the yellow form: If the newly arrived children enter Hong Kong via Lo Wu, their parents may complete the yellow form and put it into the collection box when they cross the boundary. Our staff will collect the forms every week. The staff of the Placement & Support Section will contact the parents within three days upon receipt of the yellow form and provide placement assistance for their children.

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ii)    Application by using business reply: If the children have arrived in Hong Kong but for certain reasons not yet attended schools, their parents may send the completed business reply to us. The staff of the Placement & Support Section will contact the parents within three days upon receipt of the business reply and provide placement assistance for their children. If the parents consider that their children can attend school at once, our staff at the Regional Education Offices will make placement arrangement as soon as possible. The business replies are available at the 18 Public Enquiry Service Centres of the Home Affairs Department.

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iii)    Application to the school directly: Parents may approach the school directly to apply for a place for their children.  For information of individual schools, please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

iv)    Application through Regional Education Offices/Placement and Support Section: Parents may contact the nearby Regional Education Office directly and seek placement assistance.

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Last, children aged 6-15 who are eligible to attend public sector schools could all be provided with a school place by EDB.

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Q5

How can newly arrived children from foreign countries get a school place in Hong Kong?

A5

Newly arrived children from foreign countries can get a school place in Hong Kong by the following ways:

i)    Direct application with school: Parents may contact the school directly to apply for a place for their children.

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     Ù    For information of individual schools, please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation or refer to "Education for Non-Chinese Speaking Children".

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     Ù    In addition, parents may obtain the leaflet "Your Guide to Services in Hong Kong" at the airport upon arrival or from Home Affairs Offices.  Chapter 15 of the booklet gives a brief introduction to the education service in Hong Kong, with the enquiry telephone numbers and addresses of the Regional Education Offices, Placement and Support Section as well as other related departments.  This booklet is written in English and languages of seven minority groups for the easy reference of parents.

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ii)    Application through Regional Education Offices: Parents may contact the nearby Regional Education Office directly and seek placement assistance.

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Last, children aged 6-15 who are eligible to attend public sector schools could all be provided with a school place by EDB.

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Q6

My child will soon complete the secondary education in the place of origin. Can he/she enter the local Secondary Six (S6) classes directly?

A6

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For details concerning the qualifications of sitting for the HKCEE, please contact the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority.

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Q7

My child has obtained very good academic results in the place of origin and I hope to find some schools specialized in nurturing gifted students for him/her. Does Hong Kong have such a kind of schools? Are there any services for grooming gifted students?

A7

For enquiries concerning the education services for gifted students, please contact the Gifted Education Section at Tel: 3698 3472.

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Q1

Which secondary schools in Hong Kong adopt English as the medium of instruction?

A1

There are over 100 public secondary schools in Hong Kong using English as the medium of instruction. In addition, all international schools and some Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools also use English to teach. Parents may also refer to the information leaflet on "Education for Non-Chinese Speaking Children".

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Q2

Apart from international schools, what other schools in Hong Kong admit non-Chinese speaking children?

A2

Most of the schools in Hong Kong are Chinese-medium schools. Therefore, admission of non-Chinese speaking children will be made on a case-by-case basis. At present, there are over 10 local schools admitting comparatively more non-Chinese speaking children.

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Q3

Which schools in Hong Kong use Putonghua as the teaching language?

A3

Many local primary and secondary schools have Putonghua lessons, and a small number of them even adopt Putonghua as the medium of instruction.

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Q1

Can the government offer a school place for my child near my residence?

A1

For placement to primary schools, our staff at the Regional Education Offices will make placement arrangement based on the district of residence of the applicants and vacancies of schools. For placement to secondary schools, certain flexibility can be exercised and "cross-district" arrangement will be considered. Our staff at the Regional Education Offices will make placement arrangement in accordance with the residential district of the applicants and the availability of school places as far as possible.

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Q2

My child has got very good academic results and I hope to find some schools specialized in nurturing gifted students for him/her. Does Hong Kong have such kind of schools? Are there any services for grooming gifted students?

A2

For enquiries concerning the education services for gifted students, please contact the Gifted Education Section at Tel: 3698 3472.

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Q3

How can parents and the public search for information of individual schools?

A3

Parents and the public can access the information of the schools at our Regional Education Offices, the Teachers¡¦ Centre as well as the Parents¡¦ Centre. The school information has also been uploaded to our website.  Please visit "School Profiles" at the website of Committee on Home-School Co-operation.

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Q4

If some families have financial difficulties and are unable to pay the kindergarten fees, what can they do?

A4

Families with financial difficulties can apply for fee remission. Eligible applicants must be Hong Kong residents who are studying in registered kindergartens and have not applied for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA). They should also have reached the age of 2 years 8 months at this time when they are to be enrolled in the kindergarten. Otherwise, they can only make application until they reach the age of 3. Parents who wish to apply for fee remission for their children can obtain application forms and guidance notes from the kindergartens/child care centres in which their children are studying. Applicants should return their completed application forms together with relevant supporting documents through the kindergartens/child care centres concerned. Children currently in receipt of CSSA of the SWD need not apply in their own for the Voucher Scheme. The SWD will attend to the applications and refer them to the Student Financial Assistance Agency for further action. For details, please call Student Financial Assistance Agency at Tel: 2802 2345.

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Q5

The financial burden of purchasing textbooks, paying school fees and travel expenses can be very heavy to some families. Will the government provide any financial assistance to the needy families?

A5

Needy families can apply for textbook assistance, school fee remission and travel subsidy. Eligible applicants must be Hong Kong residents. The application forms are available at the Home Affairs Department. All applications are subject to means tests and require about two months for processing. For details, please call Student Financial Assistance Agency at Tel: 2802 2345.

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