The Education Bureau on Tuesday changed regulations to encourage primary schools that do not have enough students to merge.

It said for the upcoming academic year, 15 schools – one of which is government-run – will be unable to operate a primary one class because they will not be getting 16 pupils.

Last year, the government offered three options for subsidised schools who could not form a primary one class: they could merge with another school, close, or go private.

The change aims to increase the survival rate of schools that opt to merge.

The bureau said if two schools merge in the upcoming academic year, they will be given one year's grace period within three academic years following the merger to run a primary one class regardless of the class size.

But if they are unable to take in 16 pupils beyond that point, they would have to cease operations or go private.

"If [a] school does not choose any option, or if the chosen option is not approved, [the bureau] will cease providing any form of subsidies to the school starting from the third school year counting from that year, and the school will cease operation accordingly," it said.

In an updated circular to schools and their sponsoring bodies, the bureau also said it implemented a trial three years ago to limit the primary one intake through the so-called "door-knocking" practice.

Parents often take their child to "door-knock" in a bid to enter a school that is higher up on their wish list, compared to the one their child is allocated to.

The bureau has been reducing such placements – limiting it to two for 25-pupil classes and one for those with 30 – and has now extended these limits until the 2028-29 academic year.


Edited by Aaron Tam