“Right now, there is concern about the mental health of students,” Chew said. “Imagine a class with 34 students. It would be very difficult for teachers to manage. [to help students in need].”
A recent survey found that 1.6 percent of Hong Kong’s secondary school students attempted suicide in the last school year, with the number of students who had considered suicide increasing by nearly 50 percent from the 2018-2019 rate.
But the minister disagreed, saying: “Will students be happier if they have less people to interact with in class? Social development among students is also very important for their mental health.”
“We shouldn’t overstate the effectiveness of small classes, as if they solve all our problems. They don’t. They’re just a teaching strategy.”
In the primary school sector, small class sizes were introduced in 2009-2010. Around 85 percent of public primary schools have implemented this policy, with class sizes limited to 25 students.
Mr Choi said the middle school’s teacher-to-student ratio of 1:11 was better than that of semi-private schools.
But Mr Chu contradicted her, saying: “The ratio you mentioned is misleading. If you go to secondary school, have you ever seen a class with only 11 students?”
Choi said he was talking about teacher staffing throughout the school, not just in specific classes.
According to figures in a document submitted to the Legislative Council by the Education Bureau, the projected number of six-year-olds in the first year of primary school over the next seven years will fall 31 percent, from 49,600 this year to 34,100 in 2030.
Over the same period, the projected population of 12-year-old first-graders is set to fall by a quarter, from 68,300 to 51,500.
“These latest figures reflect a continuing structural decline in the school-age population,” the paper said. “Furthermore, as the school-age population declines, both school capacity and the number of schools are expected to decline.”
The Education Secretary said it was unrealistic to maintain the current number of schools and called on the sector to “face reality”.
Education authorities also said in the report that they were reluctant to open new schools because it would affect student numbers in existing ones.
“When it comes to sites for new schools, priority will be given to the relocation of existing schools, both within the same district and through relocation across districts,” he said.
Chu also suggested reducing first-grade classes to five to minimise closures.
Choi responded that the proposal would not only affect the size of some schools, but also parents’ decisions about where to send their children.
“Is this proposal just going to allow some schools to take in more students at the expense of parent choice and the size of some schools?” she asked.
Some lawmakers said the number of dependents, including children, of talents who have settled in Hong Kong through various admission systems has exceeded 68,000, which could help solve the admission problem.
But Choi said such parents may only choose top schools or international schools.
She urged parents to choose the right school for their children rather than relying on ranking tables published in Xiaohongshu, an Instagram-like Chinese social media platform.
