*******************************************************
In response to media enquiries on some schools and teachers' concerns in relation to declining secondary student population and its impact on the number of Secondary 1 (S1) operating classes as raised by an organization today (September 10), a spokesman of the Education Bureau (EDB) said that according to the latest information, there were now less than five secondary schools which might not be able to enroll at least 67 students. Meanwhile, there would also be keen demands on secondary school teachers in the coming years.
The spokesman said: "It is a fact that the number of secondary students will decrease in the coming years. All along, EDB has been concerned about the situation and has introduced a series of measures to reduce the impact."
Back in April this year, the Secretary for Education announced that an additional recurrent expenditure of $1.4 billion would be spent on a series of strategic measures to alleviate the pressure of student recruitment on schools. EDB has also been striving to ensure stability of schools and teachers.
The spokesman pointed out that the number of students taking part in the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) had dropped by 5,000 in 2008/09. To offset this, the threshold for operating an S1 class had been reduced to 33 students. Secondary schools enrolled with 67 S1 students would meet the minimum requirement for operating three classes with an average number of students as low as 23 for each class.
In addition, EDB had instructed schools against enrolling students exceeding 40 per class. The number of classes to be packed this year had dropped significantly from a possible 130 to less than 30.
The spokesman said: "As of end August, there has been a steady decrease in the number of schools failing to enroll a minimum of 67 students in the new school year. We are confident that there will be less than five schools failing to meet the minimum requirement when we conduct head counting in schools on September 16."
It was expected that the number of S1 students will drop by around 5% in 2009/10 compared to this (2008/09) school year. In view of this, EDB had announced that the number of students to be allocated to each S1 class under SSPA will be reduced from 38 to 36 starting from next school year while the threshold of operating an S1 class will be further reduced to 30. This means a minimum of 61 students for 3 classes with a further reduction of average class size to 21.
The spokesman stressed that these measures would help further alleviate the impact of the drop in the number of S1 students next year.
2011/12 school year would be the double cohort year with two batches of students under the existing system and those under the New Senior Secondary (NSS) academic structure. There would be keen demand for teachers with an increase in the number of classes.
EDB believed that up to 2011/12, there would be sufficient teaching posts in secondary schools in general though some teachers might need to change to other schools.
The spokesman added that EDB had pledged to review the demand and supply of teachers in 2011/12 and consider adjusting the standard class size in the 2012/13 school year and thereafter so as to alleviate the pressure of surplus manpower.
Ends/Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Issued at HKT 20:18
NNNN
