[Archive] Plan to reduce the number of Primary One classes in the coming school year

Asked by : Hon LEUNG Yiu-chung

Replied by : SCS

Question :

It has been reported that the Education Department ("ED") has instructed 47 primary schools to operate less Primary One classes in the coming school year, and the total number of classes reduced is as many as 130. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the justifications for and the details of ED's instruction;
   
   
2. whether the number of teaching posts in such schools will be reduced as a result; ED will ask such schools to make some teachers redundant, and the amounts of subsidy granted to such schools will be reduced; and
   
   
3. whether ED has considered adopting alternative measures (such as reducing the size of each class); if it has, of the details; if it has not, the reasons for that?
   

Reply:

Madam President,

1. Owing to the decrease in the number of school-age children, there is a drop of about 5 400 in the number of applicants for Primary One (P1) Admission this year when compared with last year. As a result, the demand for P1 classes for the 2002/03 school year will decrease by 128 classes when compared with this year. That means over 100 primary schools will have to reduce their P1 classes in the coming school year.
   
   The overall number of P1 classes in a school net is based on the actual demand for P1 places within the net. The number of P1 classes which a primary school may operate depends on a number of factors including the number of classrooms available, the class structure and parental choices. Based on the number of children already admitted by the school during the "Discretionary Places Admission" stage and the result of a computer analysis of the actual choices made by parents during the "Central Allocation" stage, the Education Department ("ED") will work out the number of children to be allocated to each primary school. Normally, if the number of children allocated to a P1 class of a school is less than half of the class size, and there are still unfilled P1 school places in other schools of the same school net, the school may not be allowed to operate that class.
   
   
2. Decrease in the total number of classes (including P1 to P6 classes) operated in a primary school will lead to a corresponding reduction in teaching posts. In the case of an aided school, the subvention it receives, which is adjusted according to the number of classes, will also decrease correspondingly. Affected teachers in a government primary school will be deployed to other government schools. As for surplus teachers in an aided primary school, ED will provide placement service to help them find teaching employment in other aided primary schools.
   
   
3. Based on the principle of reasonable resource utilization, we will reduce P1 classes in response to the decreased demand for school places.
   
   With regard to the proposal of Hon. Leung Yiu-chung on the reduction of class size, we have to take into account the priorities of our education policy as a whole and their financial implications. A decision cannot be reached at this juncture.