Supporting Your Children's Education in Hong Kong

If you’re planning to make the move to Hong Kong, rest assured that the city has more than enough infrastructure and programmes to help you, your spouse and your children to make the transition swift and frictionless. 

Let’s have a brief look at what the Hong Kong’s education system offers. Designed with a 12-year structure, with 6 years of primary education and 6 years of secondary education, the Hong Kong education system is highly adaptable with, and recognised worldwide. Parents are spoilt for choice when it comes to picking the most suitable school for their children: within the bounds of the city sit over 800 public schools, over 700 of which are fully subsidised while the rest are directly operated by the government, over 70 DSS schools (schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme), and close to 100 private primary and secondary schools. These schools comprise international schools, private independent schools and other types of private schools. You can learn more about Hong Kong’s education system here.

Education Continues After Coming to Hong Kong 

Adapting to a new environment always takes time. Good news is that Hong Kong has a friendly education environment and abundant resources for your children to ease into the local education system.

Once you have settled in Hong Kong, if you choose to enrol your children in public schools, you can approach one of the Education Bureau’s Regional Education Offices for school placement assistance. You may also learn more about the application process of public primary and secondary schools by referring to our article “Overview of Hong Kong’s Education System”.

After your children have enrolled in public schools, if they need help to adapt to the new education system and local environment, they could choose to attend the Induction Programme in their spare time. This 60-hour Induction Programme is run by non-government organisations with subventions from the Education Bureau, aiming to help newly-arrived children cope with adjustment and learning as they join the local education system. Programme contents cover language education, learning skills, personal growth and development, and social adaptation.

Alternatively, if your children are not ready to join a public school yet, they could attend the full-time 6-month Initiation Programme. The programme aims to enhance the learning experience of newly-arrived children in a real classroom environment, help them adjust to the local community, and foster their personal development.

Apart from public schools, private schools (including international schools) in Hong Kong have been playing a unique role in offering local and non-local curricula.  If you wish to know more about the general admission procedures of international schools and private independent schools, you may refer to this webpage here.

Learning and Socialising Past Barriers

Under the government’s policy, all children, regardless of race and ethnicity, enjoy equal opportunities in public sector schools. 

If your children are non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students and have enrolled in a public school, an all-encompassing educational support measures are in place to encourage and support the integration of NCS students into the community, including facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system and mastery of the Chinese language. From major curriculum-related learning and teaching resources to other complementary measures such as Summer Bridging Programme, school-based life planning services and parent education programmes, the government has designated a wide array of programmes to help NCS students to perform in the local education system. 

Outside the classroom, enrolling children in extracurricular activities is a highly popular education and parenting endeavour in Hong Kong. Whether it be a team sport, hiking or just picking up a musical instrument, engaging in a new activity makes for opportunities to bond with your children out of home and let them develop invaluable skills, prospects, and interest in learning. Education aside, extracurricular activities are great opportunities for both you and your children to get chummy with friendly locals while picking up a new hobby.
Cultural adaptation always take time, but there’s support all around to help you get immersed in it as much as possible. If you’re looking for any assistance in education for your children or networking opportunities, feel free to use our Supporting Services to reach out to our designated partners for more information. Come prepared, and you and your family are sure to have a great time learning, working and thriving!