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South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Looming Hong Kong university spot crunch as 150,000 more pupils eligible over 5 years
Competition for university places in Hong Kong is expected to intensify. In the next five years, over 150,000 children born in Hong Kong to mainland Chinese parents will become eligible to apply for subsidised tertiary education. Hong Kong experienced a 'baby boom' from 2006 to 2012, partly due to children born to mainland parents in the city after a landmark court ruling in 2001. This ruling declared that newborns should be given the right of abode regardless of their parents' immigration status, and most of the children went to the mainland for their foundational education. After the government banned mainland women from giving birth in the city in 2013, the number of newborns dropped drastically to 790. According to the government, 150,139 children – born from 2008 to 2012 to parents who were not Hong Kong residents – would be eligible to apply for subsidised university places after sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams in the next five years. 'They now come back to sit the DSE to compete for university places and they can compete for subsidised university places,' Danny Lai Tsz-kit, co-president of Greater Bay Area Education Resource Centre, said on a radio programme. 'But the number of subsidised university places has remained at 15,000. Should the number be reviewed?'
South China Morning Post
12-08-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Fight for Hong Kong's university spots to heat up as 150,000 more teens eligible
Hong Kong's 'predicament' is reminder of the 'unplanned consequences' of official policies, ex-leader CY Leung says Competition for university places is set to intensify in Hong Kong as more than 150,000 children born in the city to mainland Chinese parents will be eligible to apply for subsidised tertiary education in the next five years. Former leader Leung Chun-ying, who banned mainland women from giving birth in Hong Kong starting in 2013, said on Monday that he had 'no solution' to potential problems, as the children were entitled to subsidised university places. But the 'predicament' served as a reminder over the current talent admission policies, which bore similar 'unplanned consequences', he said. Hong Kong experienced a 'baby boom' from 2006 to 2012, helped partly by children who were born to mainland parents in the city after a landmark court ruling in 2001 declared that newborns should be given the right of abode regardless of their parents' immigration status. Most of the children went to the mainland for their foundation education. According to the government, 150,139 children born from 2008 to 2012 to parents who were not Hong Kong residents were eligible to apply for subsidised university places after sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams in the next five years. After the government banned mainland women from giving birth in the city in 2013, the number of newborns dropped drastically to 790. 'They now come back to sit the DSE to compete for university places and they can compete for subsidised university places,' Danny Lai Tsz-kit, co-president of Greater Bay Area Education Resource Centre, said on a radio programme. Newsletter Every Saturday Hong Kong Update By submitting, you consent to receiving marketing emails from SCMP. If you don't want these, tick here {{message}} Thanks for signing up for our newsletter! Please check your email to confirm your subscription. Follow us on Facebook to get our latest news. 'But the number of subsidised university places has remained at 15,000. Should the number be reviewed?' Government data suggests that not all of these Hong Kong-born children return for studies. Around 2,700 private DSE candidates this year were from the mainland, whereas 18,816 babies were born in Hong Kong to mainland parents in 2007, and aged 18 now. But a surge in DSE takers on the mainland was marked by a proliferation of schools that offer the curriculum across the border. The Post has found that there are at least 72 such schools on the mainland, with some planning further expansion given the growing demand for the DSE. Leung Chun-ying says he has 'no solution' for the issue. Photo: Dickson Lee Some principals said they had noted that this year's Form Six graduates faced stronger competition for university places due to more students living on the mainland sitting the DSE and joining the allocation system. They said that, unlike in previous years, those who attained median scores in the university entrance exams failed to secure places on their preferred courses. A number of DSE students also made similar complaints on social media platforms. Only 37 per cent of students applying for local university places under a centralised allocation system secured a place this year, compared with 40 per cent in 2024. Former chief executive Leung told the Post that during his leadership he foresaw that educational opportunities for local students would be reduced if the number of babies born in Hong Kong to mainland parents kept rising without stopping. Leung, who was leader from 2012 to 2017, said that was why he introduced a 'zero-quota' policy to ban mainland women from giving birth in Hong Kong from 2013. Asked how the government should address growing demand from these children for local subsidised places in the coming few years, Leung said he 'had no solution'. 'You should ask those who made this policy. The predicament we are in is also the reason I said we cannot open the floodgates to the various categories of talent because we have no control on whether they will come to Hong Kong long-term and therefore no planning or control on the various social services we need to provide for them,' he added. Leung, now a state leader as a vice-chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, the country's top political advisory body, also warned that current talent policies sounded too similar to those for mainland women giving birth before the ban in terms of 'unplanned consequences' as the mainland population was huge. Children born in Hong Kong to non-local parents and mainland students who receive dependant visas only need to pay the annual local university fee of HK$44,500 (US$5,670). Non-local students must pay more than three times that amount. Authorities recently announced that the children of non-local talent would be required to stay in Hong Kong for at least two years to become eligible for resident student benefits at publicly funded tertiary education institutions from 2028-29 to help prevent abuse. Eligibility will be tightened over a transition period, with a one-year residency requirement to be introduced for 2027-28 applications, before the threshold rises to two years for 2028-29. But the latest announcement did not apply to Hong Kong children whose parents are not city residents. The Education Bureau has been approached for a response on Leung's recent remarks on the DSE and how it will be able to make sure local students' opportunities will not be encroached on.
South China Morning Post
12-08-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Fight for Hong Kong's university spots to heat up as 150,000 more teens eligible
Competition for university places is set to intensify in Hong Kong as more than 150,000 children born in the city to mainland Chinese parents will be eligible to apply for subsidised tertiary education in the next five years. Advertisement Former leader Leung Chun-ying , who banned mainland women from giving birth in Hong Kong starting in 2013, said on Monday that he had 'no solution' to potential problems, as the children were entitled to subsidised university places. But the 'predicament' served as a reminder over the current talent admission policies, which bore similar 'unplanned consequences', he said. Hong Kong experienced a 'baby boom' from 2006 to 2012, helped partly by children who were born to mainland parents in the city after a landmark court ruling in 2001 declared that newborns should be given the right of abode regardless of their parents' immigration status. Most of the children went to the mainland for their foundation education. According to the government, 150,139 children born from 2008 to 2012 to parents who were not Hong Kong residents were eligible to apply for subsidised university places after sitting the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams in the next five years. After the government banned mainland women from giving birth in the city in 2013, the number of newborns dropped drastically to 790.
