The Education Bureau has reminded parents who wish to apply for a Primary One (P1) place for their child in any government or aided school in September 2023 to submit their application forms starting next Monday (September 26).
 
     "Parents intending to apply for a P1 place of a particular government or aided primary school at the Discretionary Places Admission stage under the Primary One Admission (POA) System should submit the completed application form together with the originals and the photocopies of all supporting documents directly to that school during school office hours between September 26 and 30," a spokesman for the Education Bureau said today (September 22).
 
     "Parents who are unable to submit the application form in person may authorise in writing a representative to bring along the above-mentioned documents to the school on their behalf. Parents should note that, in light of the COVID-19 epidemic, to avoid gathering, schools may arrange a drop-in box for parents to place the original copy of the application form and the photocopies of the supporting documents to shorten their waiting time. Under this circumstance, parents should note the corresponding arrangements on providing the originals of the documents to schools for verification. Furthermore, as the Vaccine Pass arrangement has been implemented in schools, except for exempted persons, all visitors aged 12 or above have to present their vaccination record and use the "LeaveHomeSafe" mobile application to scan the venue QR code before they are allowed to enter school premises. Persons with a Red Code or an Amber Code are not allowed to enter school premises in the capacity of a visitor. Starting from September 30, the Vaccine Pass will be applicable to persons aged 5 and above.

     "Parents who are unable to submit the application in person or authorise a representative to submit it on their behalf may arrange the submission of the application form and the photocopies of the supporting documents by post between September 26 and 30 (the postmark date should not be later than the prescribed deadline). The school will arrange for parents to provide the originals of the supporting documents to the school for verification on or before October 31. After verifying the relevant documents, the school will return a copy of the application form with the school chop to parents for records," the spokesman added.
 
     The spokesman reminded parents that schools will process the applications in accordance with the established procedures and criteria at the Discretionary Places Admission stage. As such, there is no need for parents to prepare portfolios for their children.
 
     The spokesman reminded parents to submit only one application form for each child. Otherwise, their application for a discretionary place would be rendered void.
 
     Children who have accepted the offer of P1 places in Direct Subsidy Scheme primary schools will not be allocated P1 places in government or aided primary schools through the POA System.
 
     Parents who opt to apply for Central Allocation only should submit the completed application form and supporting documents during office hours between September 26, 2022, and February 3, 2023, to the Education Bureau's School Places Allocation Section (Primary One Admission) at Office 2, 2/F, Manulife Financial Centre, 223 Wai Yip Street, Kwun Tong, Kowloon. 
 
     "When completing the application form, parents should fill in the actual residential address of their child. If a false address is given by parents to secure a P1 place for their child under the POA System, the application will be rendered void and the P1 place allocated will be withdrawn. Suspected cases of using a false address for POA applications may be reported to the School Places Allocation Section by calling its hotline at 2832 7700," the spokesman said.

Ends/Thursday, September 22, 2022
Issued at HKT 15:00

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