- Experts attribute the low number to students heading abroad earlier in their studies and the vast options given by local postsecondary institutions
- Education Bureau survey revealed an overwhelming 91 per cent of students chose to attend a local institution
The number of Form Six graduates in Hong Kong heading overseas for their studies has dropped to a record low. Photo: AFPThe number of Hong Kong’s Form Six graduates going abroad to study has seen a sharp fall of 25 per cent year on year. The figure is now at its lowest level since an official survey began 12 years ago, according to a government report.
A student guidance group and a secondary school council head attributed the low number to pupils possibly making the decision to head overseas earlier in their studies and the abundant choices offered by local postsecondary institutions.
According to the “2023 Secondary 6 Students’ Pathway Survey” released by the Education Bureau on Tuesday, which covered 40,951 out of 42,500 graduates, 94.3 per cent chose to pursue full-time studies, slightly higher than last year.
Among students choosing further education, 91 per cent, or 34,989, picked Hong Kong, up by 3 per cent from last year. Another 9 per cent, or 3,609, chose to study outside the city, including going to mainland China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the United States.
The latest figure was down by 25 per cent from last year’s 4,789, hitting a new low since the government started conducting the annual survey in 2012.
The most recent peak of students going overseas for further studies was in 2020, when Beijing imposed the national security law in the city after the 2019 social unrest. About 6,000 Form Six graduates decided to leave Hong Kong that year.
In the latest survey, all study destinations had fewer students on the way, with Taiwan recording the biggest decline, followed by the top two popular choices – the mainland and the United Kingdom.
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The US was the least popular place of the main destinations, with a record low of 87 students opting to study there, 20 per cent fewer than in 2022.
Meanwhile, Canada, which introduced a bespoke “study-to-emigrate” pathway for Hongkongers in 2021, recorded the mildest drop.
Ng Po-shing, student guidance consultant of the youth-focused NGO Hok Yau Club, said he was surprised to learn that the number of students going overseas had reached a new low as countries had opened their borders after the coronavirus pandemic.
“One of the possible reasons for the drop may be due to students advancing their overseas study plans and leaving Hong Kong before Form Six, as they may emigrate with their families,” Ng said.
Besides advancing their overseas study plans before Form Six, another reason for more school leavers to stay in Hong Kong was the greater variety of places to study locally, he said.
He added campus security and the tense China-US relations in recent years might have deterred some parents from letting their children study in the US, which more than 500 students chose in 2012.
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Lee Yi-ying, a secondary school principal and the chairwoman of the Subsidised Secondary School Council, said that sufficient study places in Hong Kong institutions might encourage more students to stay.
“More students may get admitted to their preferred programmes in Hong Kong and that makes them consider not studying overseas,” she said.