Hong Kong

Education

Schools are divided into primary, junior secondary, and senior secondary levels, with examinations for passage between each. Education through the junior secondary level (for children between the ages of six and 15) is mandatory. About 60 percent of all these schools are private; 30 percent receive some form of government subsidy; and the rest are public. Nearly all of Hong Kong's people have at least a primary school education.

Enrollment in the primary schools in mid-1990s totaled about 470,000 while total enrollment in secondary and vocational schools came to around 520,000.

Colleges and universities in Hong Kong are generally small; the University of Hong Kong (founded 1911) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (1963), for example, have a combined enrollment of around 14,000. These two schools, together with Hong Kong Polytechnic (1972) and Hong Kong Baptist College (1956), are the main institutions of higher education. There are also students at numerous other schools for vocational, technical, and industrial instruction. The City University of Hong Kong is a new school that opened in 1984, representative of recent efforts to expand the size and the number of institutions for post-secondary education in Hong Kong. Thousands of students also go abroad to pursue their studies.