[Big read] Hong Kong schools pulling all stops to attract mainland Chinese students

During the recent Labour Day Golden Week holidays, more than 760,000 mainland Chinese tourists flocked to Hong Kong. Among them was 36-year-old Zhang Yu (pseudonym) from Guangzhou; but instead of sightseeing or shopping, he was there to visit primary schools.   

Zhang works in the high-tech industry in Guangzhou. He had applied to a Hong Kong talent admission scheme and his application was approved at the start of this year. As part of preparations to further his career in Hong Kong, he had to make arrangements for his son’s schooling. Zhang said, “He is a primary four student and I am worried that he might not be used to studying in Hong Kong.” 

So, over the Labour Day holidays, Zhang participated in a school-visiting tour organised by a Hong Kong educational organisation. This gave him a chance to experience first-hand the learning environment in a Hong Kong primary school before deciding whether to take his entire family to Hong Kong with him. 

After the day-long tour, Zhang went away with a very favourable impression of the local education system. He told Lianhe Zaobao that studying in mainland schools is very stressful and the students have homework each day. Zhang does not wish to put his son through so much pressure and wants more for him beyond studying and sitting for exams.

At the primary school he visited, Zhang learnt that Hong Kong schools are more supportive of participation in extracurricular activities, and the local students are better able to derive joy out of schooling. 

Zhang also pointed out that from a pragmatic and practical perspective, a Hong Kong education also provides more diverse possibilities. For example, it allows his son to enrol in universities in Hong Kong, overseas or even China. 

He added, “In the mainland, the gaokao competition is intense, but Hong Kong students can get into prestigious mainland universities with lower scores.” He eventually decided to bring his entire family with him to Hong Kong as soon as possible, so that his son could make it in time for the new school year in Hong Kong this September.      

After the 2019 anti-extradition protests, Beijing forcefully transformed the political and social order in Hong Kong. Thereafter, a considerable number of locals moved abroad, causing talent shortages in various industries over the last couple of years.

After the current administration of the special administrative region (SAR) started its term two years ago, it actively rolled out a series of measures to attract talent. As of this April, its various initiatives received around 290,000 applications in total, of which 180,000 were approved, and around 120,000 of the successful applicants have arrived in Hong Kong. 

In mid-September last year, the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and the Hong Kong Top Talent Services Association jointly surveyed more than 300 foreign talents to understand the educational needs of their children who are living in Hong Kong with them.  

The results of the questionnaire survey found that 75.8% of the foreign talents chose to bring their children along with them to attend primary or secondary schools in Hong Kong, far more than the 18.1% who opted to “let their children remain behind”, and the 3.7% who “sent their children to primary or secondary schools abroad”. Clearly, Zhang belongs to the majority.

Of those surveyed, 21.9% were from the Top Talent Pass Scheme, 17.4% were from the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, 8.9% were from the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, 22.7% were under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates programme, while the remaining 29.1% were from other talent-attraction initiatives. 

The agencies that conducted the survey concluded that as the various talent-attraction schemes gain traction, there would be a growing number of mainland students across all educational levels arriving in Hong Kong. 

At the same time that hundreds of thousands of mainland talents are migrating to Hong Kong with their families, resulting in a demand surge for basic education in Hong Kong, many Hong Kongers are relocating overseas with their families in tow because of their dislike for the SAR’s political climate. 

For example, the UK is one of the most popular destinations for migrating Hong Kongers. Earlier, the South China Morning Post reported that based on figures provided by the UK Home Office, the British government approved nearly 150,000 British National Overseas passport visas for Hong Kongers between January 2021 and June 2023. Among these, 10,000 went to children aged five and below, 19,000 went to children between the ages of six and 11, 10,000 went to teenagers between the ages of 12 and 17, 3,000 went to youths between the ages of 18 and 22, while the remainder went to those aged 23 and above.  

Data from the Hong Kong Education Bureau showed that the exodus of Hong Kongers in addition to the city’s prolonged low birth rate caused its total number of primary and secondary school students to decrease by nearly 68,000 between the 2019 and 2022 school years. Consequently, some primary and secondary schools are finding it difficult to take in enough students over the last couple of years. Currently, there is no solution in sight for this conundrum of a structural decrease in its student population. 

In April, the Education Bureau submitted its five-year projection of primary and secondary school student numbers based on the latest data to the Legislative Council Financial Committee. It projected that the number of students eligible for primary one will decrease by more than 35% from 49,600 in 2024 to 31,500 in 2029. At the same time, the number of students eligible for secondary one is projected to decrease by 20% from 68,300 in 2024 to 54,300 in 2029.  

Such projections mean that many primary and secondary schools in Hong Kong will continue to face severe shortages of local students in future. In Hong Kong, schools that do not take in enough students will very likely shut down. In fact, falling student numbers have already led to a spate of kindergarten closures.

The Education Bureau pointed out that for the current school year, 14 kindergartens have ceased operations between last September and this April, including one that merged with another school.  

Within the short span of a week at the start of May, another three kindergartens announced their closures: Yiu Wing Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten in Ma On Shan, Mei Lam Estate To Kwong Kindergarten in Tai Wai, and the Rightmind International Nursery and Kindergarten in South Horizons.

The supervisor of the 35-year-old Yiu Wing Anglo-Chinese Kindergarten, Wu Yat Ming, recently informed parents of the school’s impending closure in August 2025. In her letter, Wu explained that all kindergartens in Hong Kong are facing difficulties in finding sufficient students due to falling birth rates, an exodus of local families, and a reduction in cross-border students. Yiu Wing is no exception and its shrinking enrolment has caused its financial losses to snowball, rendering its operations unsustainable, hence the decision to shutter.

As the number of local students decreases sharply, the children of mainland talents relocating to Hong Kong via various schemes have become much sought after by the local schools. So, they pull out all the stops to get such students to enrol so as to avoid downsizing or even shutting down due to low student numbers. 

As many mainland parents are unfamiliar with the education system in Hong Kong, its Subsidised Secondary Schools Council joined hands with a dozen or so local schools some time back to organise a secondary education briefing in Shenzhen for the first time. The outreach event provided parents with on-the-spot consultations to give them a better idea of the advantages and characteristics of Hong Kong schools. At the same time, some Hong Kong schools have set up Xiaohongshu accounts to engage mainland students and their parents directly through social media to enhance their reputations. 

Over the Labour Day Golden Week holidays, STEM Plus, a Hong Kong STEM and AI education platform, also organised two school tours to secondary and primary schools in Hong Kong. Dozens of mainland parents and students used the opportunity to visit Hong Kong schools, experience local teaching styles and school life, and gain an in-depth understanding of its education system.

The groups visited different primary and secondary schools. The host schools also arranged comprehensive itineraries that included meetings with principals, teacher-led campus walkabouts, interactive sessions with local students, and experiential English and STEM lessons.

STEM Plus’s founder, Peter Lau, told Lianhe Zaobao that in December 2023, his company collaborated with four school councils of secondary and primary schools to organise the inaugural Hong Kong education fair in the Greater Bay Area. Over 100 Hong Kong schools set up booths at the event that aimed to provide mainland parents with a better understanding of the Hong Kong education system. 

Lau added, “Even though we did not advertise, more than 30,000 visitors came to the fair, with the majority being mainland parents, far surpassing our expectations.”

This time round, the tours organised by STEM Plus were also hugely popular as slots were filled in just a few days.

Lau noted that the tours allowed mainland parents to have firsthand contact with the Hong Kong education system. At the same time, schools took the chance to showcase their strengths and attract new students. In fact, several enrolment applications were made during the tours, attesting to their positive impact and “effectiveness in creating a win-win situation for both parents and schools”.

Hence, STEM Plus decided to organise another Hong Kong education fair this July. More than 200 secondary and primary schools, and kindergartens have already signed up.

Based on publicly available information, new migrants from mainland China attending Hong Kong schools is not a recent phenomenon. There have been instances of this both before and after Hong Kong’s handover as children from the mainland move to the SAR to reunite with their families. However, for a long period of time, mainland students were not a priority for mainstream schools in Hong Kong, with some even facing discrimination.

Many Hong Kong residents with mainland Chinese children were only able to enrol their children in a handful of leftist schools, such as Scientia Secondary School, Heung To Middle School and Pui Kiu Middle School.     

Leung Wing Lok, who provides education consultation services in Hong Kong, told Lianhe Zaobao that Hong Kong’s low birth rate means that its schools in New Territories that are near Shenzhen have been actively recruiting mainland students over the past decade.

For some schools in North District, Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai, such cross-border students have become an important source of enrolment, and the Mandarin language is commonly used in these campuses. As the exodus of Hong Kong locals gathers steam, mainland students are becoming even more popular as they can help Hong Kong schools with small intakes survive, so schools are doing all they can to attract them.

Leung also feels that after the three pandemic years, normal people exchanges have resumed between Hong Kong and the mainland. At the same time that the Hong Kong government has launched a number of initiatives to attract talent from the mainland, it is also making it easier for their children to enrol in Direct Subsidy Scheme schools and aided public schools, so there is an emerging trend of mainland students studying in Hong Kong schools.

To Leung, this is a win-win for both sides since a Hong Kong education is more cosmopolitan in nature. At the same time, the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) has much fewer exam-takers than the gaokao, and is recognised by universities and other tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, and by mainland and overseas universities. Meanwhile, as the number of mainland students in Hong Kong grows, it would also mitigate Hong Kong’s student shortage. 

In the past, the flow of mainland Chinese to Hong Kong led to conflicts from time to time, so some worry about the backlash from Hong Kong parents over the sudden influx of students from the mainland.

On this issue, Leung explained that Hong Kong society has become much more tolerant of those from the mainland in recent years. This comes on the back of more frequent people exchanges between both sides, leading to widespread mutual understanding. 

He said, “For example, in the parent chat groups that I am in, the Hong Kong parents are generally very welcoming of and proactive in helping new students from the mainland.”

Henry Choi, a lecturer from the Chinese University of Hong Kong Office of University General Education, told Lianhe Zaobao that many kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and private universities in Hong Kong currently do not have enough students because of the SAR’s low birth rate. In particular, many local parents with children who are attending kindergarten or primary school worry about school closures due to insufficient student intake. So, the general mood has changed compared with the opposition to mainland students in the earlier part of the 2010s.  

Nonetheless, both Leung and Choi agree that the Hong Kong government needs to take the problems seriously. Choi highlighted that most local schools in Hong Kong are still using Cantonese and British English as the mediums of instruction, compared with the widespread usage of Mandarin and American English throughout East Asia. This can potentially be a problem for mainland students who wish to further their education elsewhere in future, so there is a need to consider an increase in the usage of Mandarin to teach. 

As for Leung, he suggested that the Hong Kong government quickly set up a department to help mainland students avoid various problems with social integration, such as adapting to a new environment, school selection and even emotional management. 

As for isolated conflicts arising from discrimination, Leung believes that they are unavoidable, but he suggested that schools spend more energy on educating students and families to help them get used to seeing more mainland students around.

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “移民潮卷空教室 港中小学抢陆生”.

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