Tears of joy over students' secondary school top picks win

Results for this year's Secondary School Place Allocation were announced on Tuesday, with 79 and 91 percent of students allocated to their first choice and top three choices, respectively.

At the Yaumati Catholic Primary School (Hoi Wang Road) in Yau Ma Tei, primary six students came back to school to receive their admission and allocation slips.

Students who learned that they were allocated their first choice school cried tears of joy, with some seen raising the victory sign out of excitement.

The principal, Polly Chan Shuk Yee. said that some parents at the school were too aggressive when choosing schools this year, which affected the satisfaction rate of seat allocation results.

In addition, more students from the mainland came to Hong Kong to study under the Top Talent Pass Scheme, and the number of people participating in the allocation of places for secondary schools increased, causing the satisfaction rate to drop, but the drop was considered to be slight.

Many parents view the quota of "door-knocking" as a last resort for admission for children who fail to get into their choice of schools.

The principal suggested that parents should not resort to "door knocking" at too many schools so as not to affect their children's self-confidence or increase the pressure on parents and students.

She also said that even if "door knocking" fails, if the children's performance in secondary school is satisfactory, they can consider changing schools in the future.

This year, a total of 51,393 people participated in the allocation. The overall satisfaction rate for the top three candidates was 91%, and the satisfaction rate for the top three candidates was 79%.