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For years, Hong Kong’s education debate has been dominated by a single statistic: the declining birth rate. This demographic shift has triggered school closures and endless discussions over how to keep campuses open.
However, this diagnosis misses the larsend儲存並發佈ger crisis: the gradual erosion of the city’s teaching profession. As enrolment falls and schools shrink, teachers lose career prospects. Experienced educators leave, institutional knowledge disappears and collaborative school cultures that took decades to build are permanently lost.
Some have suggested importing more non-local students to fill empty classrooms and provide stability. While this appears sensible on paper, it offers only a partial, uncertain solution. Hong Kong cannot independently determine the flow of cross-border students, as it depends heavily on immigration policies and regional cooperation.
Furthermore, substantially increasing the proportion of non-local students risks fuelling concerns among local families over competition for educational resources. A policy meant to stabilise schools should not come at the cost of public confidence.
Instead of looking outwards, Hong Kong should look north. The Northern Metropolis is more than an infrastructure project; it represents the largest demographic shift the city will experience in decades.
Government plans envisage a population of about 2.5 million. These new residents will bring families, children and long-term demand for schools. Unlike administratively importing students, this educational demand will emerge naturally from economic development and population growth, making it far more sustainable, predictable and likely to command broad public support.
Therefore, education must be treated as critical infrastructure from the outset, rather than a supporting service. The government should reserve sufficient sites for kindergartens, primary and secondary schools as an integral part of early planning. Rather than allow schools in other districts to decline until they become unsustainable, the authorities could permit eligible schools to relocate to the Northern Metropolis.
This would provide a durable solution for preserving Hong Kong’s teaching workforce. Young teachers would see viable long-term careers and veteran educators could transfer their expertise to new communities.
Ultimately, cities compete through people and talent chooses where to live based partly on school quality. By aligning educational planning with the growth of the Northern Metropolis, Hong Kong can protect its teaching profession and ensure new communities are built around high-quality schools, strengthening its competitiveness for decades to come.
Tang Fei, Legislative Council member
Count the benefits a vital cultural scene can bring
Christine Loh’s thoughts are always worth knowing, and her latest article, “Hong Kong’s 5-year plan needs ambition to match Beijing’s expectations” (August 9), is no exception.
She identifies main areas including finance, trade, shipping and aviation; social priorities; and finally, culture, sports and tourism. She has much to say but stops short, as is often the case, of referring to the last category. Since 1970, I have been greatly involved in the arts scene here but have always wondered why culture and sports are always put together like reluctant sharers of a motel room after a flight delay.
Recently, Hong Kong’s sports facilities have been greatly enhanced by the government, amid the euphoria around medallists. This is as it should be.
But when Aristo Sham wins the Van Cliburn Piano Competition and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra is named orchestra of the year by Gramophone, the government’s response is merely to give a nod and move on.
I believe the time is long overdue to sponsor a comprehensive research project that would identify and codify the various benefits a vital cultural scene can bring to a community. It is my belief that the better the cultural scene the better will be the tourist experience and the more attractive the city will seem from overseas.
While we are at it, isn’t it time to separate sport and culture and give each its own bureau? Then we might find someone to head the Culture Bureau who actually knew something about the subject. Getting the research project into the next five-year plan would be a major step forward for Hong Kong and for its image around the world, not to mention the benefits to the local community.
David Gwilt, emeritus professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
