50 h. ago Hong Kong drama school affirms respect for Candace Chong over ‘red lines’ concern

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) has said it respects Candace Chong Mui-ngam’s contributions and has reached out to her after the outspoken playwright accused it of censoring her remarks for an anniversary promotion drive. But the academy did not explain on Tuesday why it had refrained from publishing an interview with Chong for a social media campaign to mark its 40th anniversary this year, prompting the award-winning playwright to write an open letter. In the letter, which was...

Events

65 h. ago Hong Kong schools cut fewer Primary One classes after ‘boost from talent scheme’

Hong Kong schools appear to have staunched the problem of shrinking enrolment as fewer Primary One classes are being cut this year, according to official data, with the sector attributing the improvement to an influx of children of mainland Chinese talent. According to Primary School Profiles 2025 released on Monday, there are 1,569 Primary One classes in public schools this year, 12 fewer than the 1,581 in 2024. Last year, there were 26 Primary One classes fewer than in the 2023-24 school...

Politics

65 h. ago Hong Kong schools urged to hold abuse ‘crisis drill’, list of high

Child protection training should be added to accreditation requirements for professions covered under Hong Kong’s coming mandatory abuse reporting system, while schools should compile a list of high-risk students, an NGO and a principal have suggested. The calls were made at the start of the academic year on Monday, ahead of the city mandating 25 professions across the social welfare, education, and healthcare sectors to report suspected cases of child abuse from early next year. Under the...

Events

3 d. ago Unfinished construction works at Hong Kong school trigger safety concerns

Parents sending their children to a new Hong Kong government school with unfinished construction projects expressed safety concerns on the first day of the new academic year on Monday, with the principal saying it was currently unclear when the works would be finished. Families also raised concerns about poor transport connections for Erudite Government Primary School, which is located in a new development area on Anderson Road in Kwun Tong district and started running classes this month. The...

Politics

3 d. ago 170 Hong Kong schools to offer extra languages under HK$250,000 subsidy scheme

About 170 Hong Kong secondary schools will offer Japanese, Korean, French or other languages as electives for junior form students under a pilot scheme providing each institution with HK$250,000 (US$32,000) in subsidies over the next two academic years. An education sector representative said Japanese was a popular option among schools applying because its similarities to Chinese could make it easier for students to learn. In a reply to the Post, the Education Bureau said that about 170...

Politics

3 d. ago 20% of Hong Kong secondary students face depression, anxiety and stress: study

About 20 per cent of Hong Kong secondary school students showed moderate to severe depression, anxiety and stress according to a survey, prompting experts to recommend training pupils in peer emotional support ahead of the new academic year. The Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service announced the findings of its study on Sunday, after interviewing over 1,800 secondary school students between November and March. The proportion of students experiencing moderate to very severe levels of stress rose from...

Politics

3 d. ago Mark anniversary of Chinese victory over Japan, Hong Kong minister urges schools

Hong Kong’s education minister has asked schools to hold events to mark the 80th anniversary of China’s World War II victory over Japan in the new academic year, while urging kindergartens to take the opportunity to instil patriotism in pupils. In a social media post on Sunday, Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin shared two letters that were sent separately to local schools and kindergartens on Friday. “I encourage schools to arrange commemorative and learning activities to deepen...

Politics

4 d. ago Student’s operating room photo sparks Hong Kong medical school pledge on conduct

A Hong Kong medical school has pledged to strengthen measures to uphold professional conduct after an exchange student was found to have posted a photo on social media taken inside an operating theatre, with the hospital involved slamming the “inappropriate” behaviour. The remarks on Saturday by the faculty of medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) came after internet users widely circulated a post on the Chinese social media platform RedNote. The RedNote account holder claimed...

Culture

5 d. ago How Hong Kong’s third medical school can reach new healthcare heights

This summer, the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) opened in Bentonville, Arkansas, attracting attention both for its striking architecture and revolutionary ideas about medicine. The four-storey building with its angular facade is clad in earth-tone precast concrete and brass panels, reflecting the geology of the surrounding landscape and the Ozark Mountains. Unusually for such a grand project – it has a rooftop garden, reflection pond, wellness studio and gym – a local architectural...

Science

5 d. ago University of Hong Kong business school looks at taking bitcoin for payments

The business school of Hong Kong’s oldest university is exploring the use of digital currencies for tuition payments and donations. The move by the business school of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) comes as the city seeks to balance its aspirations as a virtual asset hub with the need to minimise financial risks, with the Stablecoins Ordinance having come into effect on August 1. Professor Cai Hongbin, dean of the business and economics faculty at HKU, called for support for the initiative at...

Economics

8 d. ago Private DSE candidates’ marks will not affect Hong Kong pupil scores: exam body

The performance of private candidates sitting Hong Kong’s university entrance exams will not affect the chances of pupils achieving top scores, authorities have said, after the Post found significant improvements in non-school takers’ grades over the past two years. The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority’s remarks on Tuesday were accompanied by comprehensive data on top achievers in three core subjects of the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) for the last two years. The...

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong warns schools over unauthorised courses aimed at non

Hong Kong authorities have issued letters to local schools to warn them against working with third-party agencies to offer classes for students outside the city without prior approval, as part of a crackdown on so-called shell institutions. Jeff Sze Chun-fai, the acting secretary for education, said on Sunday that the government was “seriously concerned” about reports that some schools in the city had partnered with agencies based in mainland China to offer classes that would allow students to...

Events

1 week ago Woman, 90, killed by Hong Kong school bus in car park; driver, 72, arrested

A 90-year-old woman has been killed by a school bus in Hong Kong, with the 72-year-old driver arrested by police. Officers received a call at around 4pm on Friday that an elderly woman had been hit by a school bus in a car park at Tai Hang Tung Estate in Shek Kip Mei. She was pronounced dead at the scene after sustaining serious head injuries. Police said the female bus driver, surnamed Lun, was believed to have knocked over the pedestrian while reversing in the car park. The school bus was not...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong lawmakers urge more teacher training to spot serious child abuse cases

Teachers should be given more training to identify serious child abuse cases, Hong Kong lawmakers and a school representative have urged, after education authorities updated guidelines that mandate reporting of suspected incidents from next year. According to an Education Bureau circular issued on Wednesday, educators, social workers, therapists and psychologists working in Hong Kong schools must make a report if they suspect that a child is suffering serious harm. The policy will come into...

Society

2 w. ago Hong Kong jobless rate rises to 3.7% as graduates, school leavers enter market

Hong Kong’s unemployment rate rose to 3.7 per cent over the past three months, with authorities partly attributing the change to university graduates entering the job market, and the construction, catering, retail and property sectors taking the biggest hits. Preliminary data released by the Census and Statistics Department on Tuesday showed that the jobless rate for the May to July period increased by 0.2 percentage points compared with the April to June figures. This marks the highest rate...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong government to get more schools to join health programme

Hong Kong authorities will step up efforts to encourage more schools, including international ones, to join a government programme that aims to promote students’ health, with nearly 70 per cent of the city’s institutions already part of it. The Department of Health said that 808 institutions joined the Whole School Health Programme during the 2024-25 academic year, and tailor-made health reports and recommendations for participating schools would be released on Tuesday. Dr Chuang Shuk-kwan, a...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong authorities and HKUST deny claim of winning bid for new medical school

The Hong Kong government and a university have denied a claim made by a major private education chain that the tertiary institution had won the bidding process to operate the city’s third medical school, calling the statement groundless. They weighed in on Monday after Beacon College posted a clip to social media saying that “reliable sources” had indicated authorities would announce in the policy address on September 17 that the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) had been...

Culture

2 w. ago Hong Kong sets up inspection team to tackle illegal tutorial centre operations

An inspection task force will be established in Hong Kong to crack down on unauthorised collaboration between schools and tutorial centres, the education minister has revealed, following accusations that a Shenzhen-based centre offered classes for the city’s university entrance examination without approval. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin said in a media interview on Monday that she expected the task force, which will conduct random inspections, to improve quality control and...

Events

2 w. ago China dam dumps Western chips, second Hong Kong school suspended: 7 highlights

We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese mega dam stops using Western industrial chips over security concerns China’s Xiluodu Dam – one of the world’s largest hydropower stations – has fully transitioned away from Western-made industrial control chips over national...

Politics

2 w. ago Harmful substances found in 13 out of 28 school shoe models sold in Hong Kong

Nearly half of 28 models of primary school shoes sold in Hong Kong contain harmful substances, with carcinogens exceeding international safety limits found in four, tests by the consumer watchdog have revealed. The Consumer Council on Thursday also published international test results showing that three out of 22 child car seats models sold locally had “weaker crash protection”, and trace amounts of harmful substances were found in eight. For the shoe results, published ahead of the start of the...

Culture