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The Central Allocation (CA) stage of the Secondary School Places Allocation (SSPA) System for this allocation cycle will begin in late April. The projected demand for Central Allocation places in Sham Shui Po will slightly increase. As such, surplus places from Kwai Tsing will be required again for netting to Sham Shui Po to meet the demand. As regards the netting of places in other school nets, it is anticipated that the arrangements will largely be the same as in the last allocation cycle, a spokesman for the Education and Manpower Bureau said today (March 9).
The Secondary School Places Allocation Committee, comprising members representing secondary and primary schools from each school net and major school councils, has recently discussed and endorsed the netting principles and the above netting arrangements for this allocation cycle. The committee agreed to continue to adopt the principle of vicinity to enable Primary Six (P6) students to attend secondary schools in their own districts, thus reducing unnecessary cross-district allocation and long distance travel.
"In fact, school places had also been netted from Kwai Tsing to Sham Shui Po from the 1999-2000 to 2003-04 school years, and in the 2005-06 school year. Similar to the practice in previous years, the netting arrangements between Kwai Tsing and Sham Shui Po are adjusted based on the supply and demand of Central Allocation places in the school nets concerned each year," the spokesman said.
It is not until early March that the bureau can have preliminary projection on the supply and demand of Central Allocation places in each school net by making reference to the number of students in each school net, the number of applications for cross-net allocation due to home-moving, and the number of planned S1 classes for the following school year.
"As the supply and demand situation as well as the netting of places between school nets are still subject to change between March and April, the schools to be included in each school net and the number of places to be provided by each school have yet to be confirmed. As with previous years, such information will be provided in the school choice documents, including the Secondary School List and the new Handbook for Unrestricted School Choice to be distributed in late April to parents of participating P6 students for reference. It is hoped that the present announcement can enable schools and parents to know the soonest possible the major changes in the netting of places between school nets in 2007 as compared with last year."
Parents who have enquiries about the SSPA System may seek advice from their children’s primary schools, or contact the bureau's School Places Allocation (SPA) Section (SSPA). The SPA Section is located at 2/F, Lui Kee Education Services Centre, 269 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, and the telephone numbers are 2832 7740 and 2832 7700.
Ends/Friday, March 9, 2007
Issued at HKT 16:29
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