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Village schools face closure
Kamana Damai (middle) is happy to study with friends at Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School.(Bernice Ha)
By Eunice Ho
Despite support from parents and students, some village schools will soon have to close down.
Village schools are those that are located in villages in the New Territories and Cheung Chau.
Maggie Yiu, whose son and daughter are students at Pat Heung Central Primary School in Yuen Long, insisted on sending her children to the village school.
“Given a smaller class size, teachers can take care of my children better.
“The space for activities is larger. There are also enough facilities. For example, there are swings on the playground.
“The environment is also good. My children can get close to flowers and plants,” said Ms. Yiu.
Lok Lai Fong, principal of Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School, said, “Some parents have already sent their elder sons or daughters to the school. They want their siblings to study at the same school.”
Not only local children choose to attend village schools, but children of other nationalities, such as Pakistanis and Nepalese, do so, too.
Ms. Lok said, “Many Southeast Asians settle in Yuen Long. Because our school is located in Yuen Long, there are many Southeast Asian students in our school.”
Though many other Nepalese and Pakistani children go to Islamic Primary School in Tuen Mun, Chan Pun Man, the principal of Wa Fung School in Yuen Long said, “Some parents prefer our school since the kids may have religious conflicts with schoolmates there.”
Rohit Thapa, a Nepalese student at Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School, said, “I like my school and my classmates are nice. We get along well.”
Even though there is support from parents and students, some village schools still have had to close Primary 1 classes this school year.
Janet Lam, information officer in the Education and Manpower Bureau, said parents generally prefer not to send their children to village schools.
“The popularity of village schools has declined sharply,” she said.
According to Ms. Lam, 51 schools will not have any Primary 1 classes this school year. Of them, 33 are in rural areas and 18 are in urban areas.
One reason for the closure of Primary 1 classes in village schools is a change in education policy.
The criterion for operating a Primary 1 class this year has changed from at least 16 students to 23 students.
Another reason was the setting of a cut-off date for the admission of Primary 1 students by the government. It was on 9 March 2003. Late applications are not counted.
Because of the change, there is no Primary 1 class at Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School and Wa Fung School.
Ms. Lok said, “In fact, my school accepted 31 Primary 1 student applications this academic year.
“But they applied after the cut-off date. So the Education and Manpower Bureau informed the parents and arranged the students to study in other schools.”
Wong Sheng Man, former principal and English teacher of Wa Fung School, said, “My school admitted 17 students before 9 March and 60 up to June. But since there is a cut-off date, no Primary 1 class can be opened for them.”
Regarding the change, Ms. Lam of the Education and Manpower Bureau said, “There is a need to set up a definite cut-off date in order to avoid uncertainty in the number of classes that a school operates.”
Ms. Lok, principal of Yuen Long Small Traders New Village School, understands the policy but is still upset.
She said, “I understand that the reason behind the policy is to raise the quality of education. But I feel really sorry and disappointed in the way they handled it.”
Ms. Lam defended the policy by saying, “Our policy is to consolidate under-utilized schools, whether they are rural or urban. This is because of the surplus primary school places and declining student population.
“This action was taken in response to the Legislative Council Public Accounts Committee’s request that the government should address the problem of surplus school places.
“If under-utilized schools, both in rural and in urban areas, are phased out by the school year 2006/2007, there would be an annual recurrent saving of about $370 million.
“This saving can be put on other essential uses in education. This is to ensure that public resources are used effectively.”
The cost of running a village school is not as high as described by the Education and Manpower Bureau.
Jade Kong, spokesperson for the Alliance for the Parents of Rural Schools, said, “There is no building cost and no need to pay any rates. The land and the school buildings are both donated. So, there is no cost involved. Why doesn’t the government utilize the existing resources?”
Adding further, Ms. Kong said, “On one hand, the government said that there is a declining student population. Yet, on the other hand, there are five new primary schools being constructed in Yuen Long.
“It is a waste of resources. It is also a discrimination towards small schools like ours.”
The government says it doubts the village schools’ ability to provide a broad and balanced curriculum for students.
Ms. Lam said, “Village schools have sub-standard facilities for teaching and learning. They also have difficulties in recruiting and retaining qualified and experienced teachers.”
She said that these would have adverse effects on the personal development of students.
Ms. Kong disagreed and said the facilities in village schools are adequate since the number of students is smaller.
There is a computer room, a playground, and a library corner in Yuen Long Small Traders Village Public School.
Wa Fung School has two playgrounds, a computer room, and a music room.
The qualification of the teachers is not sub-standard.
Most of the teachers have diplomas in education, and two teachers in Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School even have master’s degrees.
The ability of students in village schools is no worse than those in other schools. Ms. Kong said, “Most of our graduates get good grades in secondary schools. They perform well in academic studies as well as in extra-curricular activities.”
Ben Cheung, a graduate of Wa Fung School, said, “I can apply what I learnt from the school in my studies in Germany.
Although village schools will close down in 3 years, they are not giving up.
Mr. Chan of Wa Fung School has suggested merging the school with Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School to avoid closing down.
“However, the Education and Manpower Bureau refuses to do so,” he lamented.
Students at Yuen Long Small Traders New Village Public School
enjoy playing board games on the school playground after lessons. (Bernice
Ha)