[Archive] The issue of Primary Six students being required to attend secondary schools in other districts

Asked by : Hon CHAN Yuen-han

Replied by : SEM

Question :

Regarding's Form One students attending secondary schools in districts other than those in which they attended their primary schools, will the Government inform this Council:

1. of the number of Secondary One students who have to commute to schools in other districts in the current school year, and its percentage in the total number of Secondary One students; how these figures compare to those in the two previous school years;
   
   
2. of the estimated number of Secondary One students who will have to commute to schools in other districts in the next school year;
   
   
3. of the five districts expected to have the greatest numbers of students from other districts in the next school year; of the number of Secondary One students, the number of secondary schools completed and the additional number of Secondary One school places in each of these five districts in each of the past three years; whether land has been reserved in these districts for building schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
   
   
4. of the five districts which had the greatest numbers of newly-completed secondary schools in the past three years, and the number of Secondary One students from other districts and the additional number of Secondary One school places in these five districts in each of the past three years?
   
   

Reply:

Madam President,

Before responding to the questions of the Honourable Member, it may be helpful if I first set out Government's planning parameters for primary and secondary schools, and how the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) system operates.

At present, the provision of primary school places is planned on a district basis to reduce the need for young pupils to travel a long distance. Secondary school places are planned on a territory-wide basis, although subject to the availability of suitable sites, new secondary schools are built to meet local demand.

Under the SSPA system, the whole of Hong Kong is divided into 18 secondary schools nets. Primary Six students are allocated to different school nets according to the districts where their primary schools are located. In addition to all secondary schools in the district, a school net may also include some secondary school places in other districts. This arrangement takes account of the number of students and choice. A Primary Six student will only be allocated to secondary schools belonging to his/her school net under the SSPA system. However, a student may apply for any secondary school in Hong Kong and be admitted through the 10% discretionary places, the allocation of which is determined by the secondary school.