Education Bureau to Launch School Merger Plan This Academic Year, Addressing Excess Teachers
SingTao · 3 SOURCESabout 2 hours ago4 MIN
Summary
The Education Bureau is set to launch the Convergence Upgrade Plan this academic year, encouraging suitable publicly-funded schools to merge and pool resources. Education Secretary Christine Choi Yuk-lin (蔡若蓮) told the Legislative Council that the bureau is gathering feedback from the education sector to finalize implementation details, including eligibility thresholds, feasibility of cross-funding model mergers, flexible arrangements for school premises, and additional resources during the transition period .
Key Points
- The plan permits merged schools to adopt a "one school, two campuses" arrangement, with one campus potentially converted into a dormitory .
- Schools cannot operate under a "dual system" after merging—each must commit to either aided or Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) status .
- Merged schools may retain their teacher establishment based on the year before consolidation for up to three years .
- Government schools can only merge with other government schools due to their unique staffing structure .
- The bureau aims to ensure the total number of aided and DSS schools does not increase, maintaining stability in the education ecosystem .
Why It Matters
This policy marks a significant shift in Hong Kong's education landscape by breaking down barriers between different funding models. The flexible arrangements for school premises and teacher establishment could ease school merger concerns while addressing declining student populations in certain districts.
This policy marks a significant shift in Hong Kong's education landscape by breaking down barriers between different funding models. The flexible arrangements for school premises and teacher establishment could ease school merger concerns while addressing declining student populations in certain districts.