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Hong Kong kindergartens and primary schools are trying to enroll children of Hong Kongers working and living in Shenzhen in a move to tackle shortage of schoolchildren in parts of the special administrative region.

 

Braving the scorching summer heat, 24 schools from Tuen Mun, part of New Territories, set up booths over the weekend at Children's World in Nanshan District in Shenzhen to promote their schools. However, not many children turned up, said Chow Kam-cheung, head of Tuen Mun Primary School who is also a member of the Tuen Mun District Primary School Heads Association in New Territories.

 

This move was encouraged by the opening of the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint earlier this month, which cut the travel time between Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint and downtown Tuen Mun to 15 minutes by bus.

 

"The opening of the Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint and Western Corridor made it possible for Hong Kongers living in Nanshan and Bao'an districts to send their children to study in Hong Kong," said Chow.

 

Chow said the association will arrange cross-border school buses to transport students from Nanshan and Bao'an to Tuen Mun and back.

 

Chow and other members of the association visited Bao'an and Nanshan districts in March and May, and learned 1,878 Hong Kong children were studying in Bao'an District, of whom 478 were in kindergartens.

 

In Nanshan District, half of the Hong Kong children studying in institutions operated by Hong Kong Regents Education Institution said they would go back to Hong Kong to study in primary schools.

 

Unlike Shenzhen, where children have to struggle to get into the best primary schools, Hong Kong schools face cancellation of classes and closure due to a shortage in school-age kids. According to Chow, the number of children who finished primary school in Tuen Mun was 5,500 this year, but the number of children in kindergartens was only 3,300, which means the primary schools will enroll 40 percent less students. Last year, the vacancies in primary schools numbered 2,535 and some schools had to shrink the size of classes and even close some classes.

 

Statistics from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government show that the low birthrate in Hong Kong will reduce the proportion of children in the population from the current 22.7 percent to 18.2 percent in the next 30 years.

 

In 2005, 14 primary schools in Hong Kong were closed due to shortage of children.

 

According to Chow, the association will organize another two-day exhibition this weekend at the Children's Palace in Futian District.

 

According to an earlier report by the South China Morning Post, around 3,000 Hong Kong children cross the border at Luohu and Huanggang checkpoints to study at Hong Kong schools every day. Some New Territories schools have changed their class hours to solve travel problems for children who have to cross the border from Shenzhen to attend school in Hong Kong. Some schools have postponed the start of classes to 9: 30 AM to help children avoid rush-hour traffic.

 

Tuen Mun District is one of the 18 administrative districts of Hong Kong. There are currently 50 secondary schools, 56 primary schools and 50 kindergartens in Tuen Mun.

 

(Shenzhen Daily July 19, 2007)