In Response to the Promotion Principle and the Arrangement of Confirming the Number of Students

In Response to the Promotion Principle and the Arrangement of Confirming the Number of Students (Translated by the school)

 

The Education Bureau (EDB) would like to respond to some of the concerns regarding the recent media coverage of promoting students and keeping school places for non-attendance of students after counting the number of students.

 

According to the existing mechanism, the School Management Committee/IMC and the school are responsible for the daily management of the school, including counting and reporting the number of students. The school should submit accurate information to the EDB, so that the EDB can collect the information of publicly funded school effectively. On the other hand, the school should also set up a clear and transparent principle of promotion, and keep parents well-informed. If the school decides to keep a school place for a student who has not attended the school for a long period of time, the decision should be made based on the student’s learning needs and professional judgement, e.g. medication reason, family issues, etc.

 

In order to accurately decide the number of classes in a school, so as to calculate the number of teachers needed and the amount of subsidies a school can obtain, on a day in September, the EDB will visit the school to count the number of students who actually show up in class, and collect the relevant documents (e.g. letters of application of leave). If any inaccuracy is found, or if more than one school has submitted the information of the same student, an investigation process will be started.

 

For the aided primary school mentioned in the media coverage, although the school has previously reported the situation to the EDB and shrinking class size was not involved, there is room for improvements in the procedures of reporting and the subsequent process of handling information, including updating the record of students who have transferred away, and accurate information of absent students should be submitted. We have already given our suggestions to the school and will monitor it closely. As for the aided school mentioned in the media coverage, the EDB has reiterated the principles of promoting a student, which should be based on professional consideration, and in accordance with the educational principles and the needs of students. The EDB would provide professional advice for the school. If any impropriety is found, we will look into the case with high degree of seriousness, and ask the school to amend.

 

In response to the society’s concern, we will review the method of counting the number of students, we hope to increase the accuracy of collecting data without hindering the daily operation of the school. In the coming academic year, we will increase the number of schools we visit on the inspection day. Should any unusual situation be found, the EDB will monitor the school with close supervision. If necessary, the case will be referred to Non-attendance Cases Team for further follow-up.

 

To optimize the arrangement of counting the number of students, we will keep in touch closely with the education sectors. At the same time, we would like to encourage schools to provide quality education to students professionally.

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