[Archive] Schooling arrangement for Mainland Children allowed to stay in Hong Kong on temporary permit

LEGCO QUESTION NO. 7

Date of Meeting: 7 June 2000

Asked by : Hon CHENG Kai-nam

Replied by : SEM

Question :

Regarding schooling for the Mainland children and young persons who are allowed to stay in Hong Kong temporarily, will the Government inform this Council:

of the government policy and the government department(s) responsible for implementing the policy;
whether primary and secondary schools are required to obtain prior permission from the Education Department ("ED") before they admit these persons; if so, of the number of such applications received by the ED and the number of persons concerned each year since the reunification of Hong Kong with China;
of the number of cases received by the ED from the parents concerned requesting assistance in each of the past two years; and
whether any measures are in place to assist these persons in their schooling in Hong Kong; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

a. & b.

Under current policy, if Mainland children and young people who are allowed to temporarily stay in Hong Kong for various reasons wish to receive schooling in Hong Kong, prior approval must first be sought from the Immigration Department (Imm D). According to the existing requirements of the Education Department (ED), if these children and young people apply to schools direct for admission, the schools concerned have to forward the applications first to the ED which will check with the Imm D to confirm whether the applicants have been approved to receive schooling in Hong Kong. Only when such approval has been given could schools admit these applicants. If these children and young people apply to the ED for receiving schooling, the Department will also first check with the Imm D. After the Imm D confirms that they have been approved to receive schooling in Hong Kong, the ED will offer relevant assistance to them.

The ED does not keep records of the number of applications for receiving schooling made to the Department and schools from Mainland children and young people who are allowed to temporarily stay in Hong Kong.

c. & d.

If Mainland children and young people who have obtained approval from the Imm D to temporarily stay in Hong Kong and receive schooling request placement assistance from the ED, the Department will arrange for them to have interviews with schools. The schools concerned will then decide whether to admit the applicants having regard to their levels of academic attainment and vacancies available.

In the past two years, the number of Mainland children and young people, approved by the Imm D to temporarily stay in Hong Kong and receive schooling, receiving assistance from the ED is as follows -

School year

Number of people

1997/98

487

1998/99

284

All the individuals who sought placement assistance from the ED were placed.