Hong Kong Catholic secondary school to close a year earlier than first planned after vote to move pupils to another institution next September
- Rosaryhill Secondary School pupils to move en masse to Yu Chun Keung Memorial College No 2 next September after parents back proposal
- Decision reached after Dominican Missions earlier this year said closure was inevitable because of sharp drop in school enrolment and financial difficulties
The government-aided Rosaryhill Secondary School in Wan Chai, which announced its closure plan last September because of enrolment and financial problems, on Thursday told parents about the new move as it announced the poll results.
“All children could stay together to face the new environment in another school, which is better than studying apart in different schools,” said Baljinder Singh, a parent of two children studying at Rosaryhill.
Other options in the poll involved the school roll being split up and spread around a variety of institutions.
Singh, whose daughters are in Form Two and Five, said parents wanted the school sponsoring body, Dominican Missions, to offer a subsidy of about HK$9,000 (US$1,152) per pupil to cover the cost of new uniforms, books and transport.
He added they hoped there would also be a school bus route from Wan Chai to the future school in Pok Fu Lam, a distance of about 9km (5.6 miles), with some stops along the way.
The YCK2 option got the biggest support from the parents, although the number of votes for each measure was not announced.
“The directions and principles of the transfer plan will be deliberated during the forthcoming transition committee meeting scheduled for early January,” the school’s transition committee said in a circular to parents.
A source said the option picked by parents was also the preferred choice of the school authorities.
One of the other two options was that all junior pupils would join the Education Bureau’s placement allocation process after completion of Form Three and students in Form Four and Five would have completed their studies at the school.
Proposal to move over 300 pupils from Hong Kong’s Rosaryhill school ‘gets nod’
The school would have closed in August 2026 under the proposal.
The last option was for parents to apply for places at 0ther schools themselves.
Rosaryhill Secondary, founded in 1959, lists several former pupils who rose to prominence after their schooldays.
The late singer and actor Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing, Cantopop star Kelly Chen Wai-lam, actress-singer Charlene Choi Cheuk-yin and former Executive Council convenor Bernard Chan all attended the school.
Dominican Missions announced earlier this year that closure of the secondary school was inevitable because of a major reduction in enrolment numbers and financial problems.
It said it would hand over its associated kindergarten and primary school to Dalton School Hong Kong, a private institution in West Kowloon for the next academic year.
The Dominicans, a religious teaching order, added the school would shut in the 2025-26 academic year, when all senior form pupils would have graduated. Younger children would have transferred to other schools.
Hong Kong’s Rosaryhill considers subsidies to spur pupil switch ahead of closure
Dalton School said it would pay Dominican Missions for use of the campus, which is on private land, but declined to reveal the amount involved.
Students from Rosaryhill Secondary in October posted an open letter to city leader John Lee pleading for a review of the decision to close the school and asking for a new campus.
Joseph Kung Kwong-pui, the diocesan episcopal delegate for education, in October told parents in a closed-doors briefing that he had raised the idea of transferring all children in Form One to Five to YCK2 in Pok Fu Lam next September after Dominican Missions asked for help.
The diocese also arranged for some parents and pupils to visit YCK2 last month to familiarise themselves with the school.
The school carried out a poll in November, but no option got more than the required 50 per cent of the votes.
The transition committee decided to hold another poll this month and said it would go for the option which recorded a simple majority.
A spokeswoman for the Education Bureau said it would continue to monitor the situation and urged the school and its sponsoring body to make the proper arrangements for the changeover.
She added the bureau was prepared to offer help and advice to parents and pupils if needed.
