Preparation work before and after the submission of Primary One Central Allocation forms

- Interview with Education Consultant Ian Tsang

Due to the birth rate rebounding and the effect of parents from mainland China wanting to raise their children in Hong Kong, this year there will be over thirty thousand K3 students competing for positions for grade one, and it is expected that the supply will continue to outstrip demand next year. As K3 parents submit their Primary One Central Allocation application form, K2 parents are preparing for grade one admission. You might ask if there is a need for such early preparation since it is only the beginning of the year. In fact there is such a need, so if you want to do a good job of selecting schools, now is really the time to start doing some homework.

As the saying goes: when you fill in the application, give first preference to the ideal school, but leave the second and third preference to the second and third tier schools. Yet parents will only focus on researching the top schools, and few consider second or third tier schools, so how should they find suitable choices for their second and third preferences? Education consultant Ian Tsang defines these as “schools that do not fill their placements consistently from self  allocation”. Suppose a school has been given 50 self allocated positions but do not receive 50 applications, then it belongs to the second or third tier school. His reasoning is that “parents at the self allocation stage can only choose one school for their child, so it is equivalent to a vote for the people’s choice of ideal schools" and worthy of consideration. For parents wanting to find the second and third tier schools, here is a brief guide:

1 ) After the announcement of the selfallocation results, go to the Department of Education Web site http://www.edb.gov.hk to download results and related information. Also go to the related school’s website to find relevant information on placement allocation. The suggestion is to act immediately after the announcement of results, keeping in mind that the information will disappear very quickly.

2 ) Attend the relevant school open day and information sessions to understand the education philosophy as well as teaching methods to see if they are suitable for your own children.

        3 ) Pay a visit to the school to observe the students in class and the teacher’s attitude. Given the opportunity, also enquire                directly with the parents dropping off or picking up their children about the state of the school and the quality of education.

 Ian pointed out that the quality of many second and third tier schools are also very good, but their lack of visibility makes      them easily ignored by their parents. Some schools have older facilities and are unable to leave a good impression with the parents, so it is suggested that parents should spend more time getting to know the second and third tier schools. “Many parents get caught up with the top schools, but the competition for positions is very high and the chance of gaining entry isn’t necessarily very good. I recommend parents to spend more time researching the second and third tier school, and maybe they will find that “hidden gem” and avoid the "Waterloo" that may see their children get sent to their seventh or eighth preferences."

Ian also compiled some relevant information for reader reference at

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.611948515537792.1073741851.197055590360422&type=3

Ian especially highlighted the discrepancy between popular and less popular school networks such as Sai Kung and Tseung Kwan O ( 95 ) , so parents should take more time to do their research.

Should parents relocate if they are within a poor school network? In order to select from good school networks, many parents also move to the prestigious areas. However, because these moves all aim for areas of high prestige, it is also common to suffer “Waterloo”, which still leaves the question of whether or not to relocate. Ian pointed out that two years ago 90% of students in the mid-west region ( 11 ) were allocated one of their top three preferences, and the result was that" everybody moved to the west , and now the rate has fallen down to 70%, so there is no school network within Hong Kong that is particularly safe."

The Central Allocation "lottery" is based purely on the luck of the draw and causes parents concern, so to create a safeguard they will also apply for DSS and private schools. However, Ian reminded parents that if their child has a DSS placement then they will not be able to participate in the Central Allocation. As for private schools, there are different terms and conditions, so parents will need to find out more details, and hence some private schools will also request parents NOT to participate in the Central Allocation.

K3 parent may ask, is it time to relax now that the forms have been submitted? Not necessarily, as Ian pointed out, because in the remaining six months or so it is important to make preparations in case of “Waterloo”. He suggested parents to try and source some grade one Chinese, English and Mathematics exercises for their children to do. Due to the gap between the K3 and grade one curriculum, if they need to knock on doors in the event of “Waterloo”, schools will place more emphasis on the student’s learning ability and test content from the grade one. Even if the child receives the third preference, it will still contribute towards preparation for their entry into grade one.

If parents fail to gain admission by directly applying to the school, should they give up? Ian pointed out that if their children completes grade one with ideal scores, they can knock on the door of their ideal school again because under the Central Allocation system, students are often “mismatched” with schools, so there is still the opportunity to gain admission.

Nevertheless, Ian noted that too many parents place emphasis on the prestige of the school and may neglect the fact that it is not necessarily suitable for their children. The advice for parents is to provide enough space for their children to develop their own strengths rather than “creating interest” for them. Selecting a school based on their interests and learning ability is the most positive way to choose a school.