【明報專訊】As Secondary 1 intake is expected to drop from over 70,000 to 54,000 in six years, the government has launched a scheme to encourage schools to cut classes on a voluntary basis. Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung (教育局長孫明揚) has pointed out schools have a social obligation to join the scheme.
The scheme has met with opposition. One vocal critic of it is former Hong Kong Observatory director Lam Chiu-ying (前天文台長林超英). He said some days ago the scheme would lead to social injustice because students from worse-off families could not afford to go to private schools and students would have smaller chances of getting into elite schools. In response to his criticism, Michael Suen said that, while the Education Bureau welcomed different views and constructive suggestions, so far no practical suggestions had been offered. He reiterated (重申) that every school should do its bit to help tackle the sharp decrease in the student population in the years to come. Lam subsequently said on his blog he suspected the scheme was by no mean "voluntary" as it was supposed to be. He criticised the government for putting pressure on schools to help avert the crisis resulting from student population shrinking.
