ENG-2019 — Page 167

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Education

Kindergarten Education

Kindergarten education is not compulsory. Nevertheless, about 100 per cent of children aged three to five were attending kindergartens in the 2018-19 school year.

Under the kindergarten education policy implemented from 2017-18, a subsidy sufficient for the provision of quality half-day service to all eligible children aged three to six is provided to local non-profit-making kindergartens joining the kindergarten education scheme. The quality of education provided by the participating kindergartens is enhanced through. raising the teacher-pupil ratio from 1:15 to 1:11, a revised curriculum guide, more systematic professional development of teachers, stronger support to students with diverse needs, a strengthened quality assurance framework and promotion of parent education. Out of about 1,050 kindergartens in 2019-20, about 790 were local non-profit-making kindergartens eligible to join the scheme and 761 had joined.

Primary Education

Public-sector primary schools offer six years' free education. A child starts primary education at about age six. In September, 301,073 children were enrolled in 455 public-sector primary schools, comprising 34 government schools and 421 aided schools. In addition, 21 DSS primary schools offered 16,432 places and 67 private primary schools offered 41,276 places.

Admissions to Primary 1 in public-sector schools are administered through the centralised Primary One Admission System, divided into two stages: Discretionary Places Admission and Central Allocation. Each school will first earmark about half of its Primary 1 places as discretionary places, and parents may apply to only one government or aided school in any school catchment area, or 'school net! The remaining half are for central allocation, which assigns children who have not been allocated a place during Discretionary Places Admission. At this stage, 10 per cent of the places are meant for parents to make up to three unrestricted school choices from any school net for their child, while 90 per cent are for parents to make restricted school choices in the school net of their residence in order of preference.

Secondary Education

Public-sector secondary schools also provide six years' free education. In September, 256,126 students were enrolled in 392 public-sector secondary schools, comprising 359 aided schools, 31 government schools and two caput schools that are subsidised mainly according to the number of students admitted. There were also 59 DSS secondary schools offering 55,369 places and 20 private secondary schools offering 8,889 places.

Secondary education comprises three years of junior secondary and three years of senior secondary education leading to the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination.

Subsidised Secondary 1 places are allocated through the Secondary School Places Allocation System, divided into two stages: Discretionary Places and Central Allocation. Schools participating in the system reserve not more than 30 per cent of their Secondary 1 places as

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