Dropout rates ease at prestigious schools

Student dropout rates at prestigious secondary schools declined by 5 percentage points in the last academic year ending July, as school principals expect the trend to continue this school year amid the return of mainland migrant families.

According to direct subsidy schools' annual reports, Good Hope School in Ngau Chi Wan has seen its dropout rate reduce by 5 percentage points from the 2021-22 school year.

Public schools have also seen their dropout rates fall.

St Joseph's College in Mid-Levels saw a drop of 2 percentage points, while Queen's College in Causeway Bay saw its student population rise by 1 percent to 743.

Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council chairman Dion Chen said the return of migrant families and the baby boom effect in the Year of Dragon 12 years ago will contribute to a further increase in student numbers next school year.

"I believe most of the families who wish to leave Hong Kong have left," Chen said, adding that "some of these students may return."

Hong Kong Subsidized Secondary Schools Council chairwoman Lee Yi-ying said she has heard from schools that they had received more students whose parents are Top Talent Pass holders, as well as Hong Kong students that had been stuck in the mainland during the pandemic.

The Education Bureau earlier estimated the population of 12-year-olds to go down to 60,100 in 2029 from next year's 69,500.

She believes the students, mostly from the mainland, could be a new source amid the continuous drop in the student population.

It comes amid the administration's seven talent-hunting schemes, which have attracted over 47,000 nonlocal underage dependents as of October, while over half of them came under the Top Talent Pass Scheme.

Meanwhile, the latest Secondary School Profiles published yesterday showed 10 government-aided schools have slashed the number of secondary one classes while 12 schools added more classes.

Four schools in Eastern district have to slash one secondary one class next year, but they all adopt a "cyclic symmetrical class structure," which is reducing one secondary one class every other year.

Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers Wong Cho Bau Secondary School in Tung Chung will set up five secondary one classes next year, up from the current three classes.

Separately, Hong Kong secondary school students outperformed in science in the latest global benchmark assessments as compared with the study results last year. However, their reading ability declined.

Hong Kong climbed two places to rank seventh in science, but slipped from fourth to 11th place in reading, scoring only 500 points compared to 524 in 2018, while students remained in fourth place in maths with 540 points.

Chinese University professor Hau Kit-tai, project manager of Hong Kong PISA, said the decline in reading performance was likely due to emphasis being applied on other subjects.