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Children who have joined the Primary One Admission (POA) System for September 2013 but have not yet secured a discretionary place can take part in the Central Allocation process by making their choice of schools on either Saturday (January 19) or Sunday (January 20).
"By participating in Central Allocation, these children will be allocated a government or aided primary school place," a spokesman for the Education Bureau said today (January 14).
"The School Places Allocation Section of the Bureau has written to the parents concerned, inviting them to make their choice of schools at a specified Central Allocation Centre. Each centre will operate from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 1.30pm to 4.30pm on January 19 and January 20.
"A completed 'Choice of Schools Form' must be returned to the same centre on either of the two days," the spokesman said.
"Parents who have not yet received the invitation letter should call the School Places Allocation Section on 2832 7700 as soon as possible," he said.
Parents who have recently moved or who have plans to move in the near future are required to inform the School Places Allocation Section as soon as possible so that they can make school choices in the "school net" where their new home is located. Parents should fill in their child's actual residential address. 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P1 place for their child under the POA System, the application will be rendered void and the P1 place allocated will be withdrawn.
The Bureau has put in place a monitoring mechanism to verify the residential address of children as given by the parents. Random checks of applicants' addresses are also being stepped up. The public are encouraged to report suspected cases of individuals using a false address to the School Places Allocation Section by calling the hotline at 2832 7700. As in previous years, the Bureau will take appropriate action against false address cases.
For enquiries about the procedures for Central Allocation, please call the Bureau's 24-hour automatic telephone enquiry service at 2891 0088.
Under the POA System, the territory is divided into 36 school nets. Ten per cent of individual schools' Primary One places for Central Allocation are earmarked for unrestricted school choices. Parents may choose up to three schools in or outside the school net in which they reside. The remaining 90 per cent are for restricted school choices and parents should select primary schools available in their school net in order of preference.
The computer-programmed Central Allocation will first process the unrestricted school choices and then the restricted school choices. For oversubscribed schools, the order of priority in allocating places will be determined by "random numbers" generated by the computer for individual applications. This is to ensure fairness to all applicants.
The results of Central Allocation are scheduled for release on June 1.
Ends/Monday, January 14, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:01
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