According to education authorities, approximately 94 percent of public and semi-private schools in Hong Kong have established partnerships with counterparts in mainland China to promote student exchange and foster a sense of national identity. The Education Bureau disclosed that it allocated nearly HK$130 million (US$16.6 million) for the "Sister School Scheme" in the last academic year and has no plans to extend this funding to private and international schools.
In a written reply to the Legislative Council, the Education Bureau reported that as of last month, 935 schools in Hong Kong had established 2,933 sister school partnerships with their counterparts in mainland China. These schools include public and special institutions, as well as those under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS). Each local school is allowed to partner with multiple mainland institutions.
“Schools arrange exchange activities, such as school visits, student activities, seminars, teaching demonstrations, lesson evaluation, video conferencing and experience sharing, with their sister schools at student, teacher and school management levels based on their school-based development needs”, Choi Yuk-lin, Secretary for Education, said in the reply.
Hong Kong has 991 public, DSS, and special institutions, so schools paired with mainland institutions represent 94 percent of the city's schools. The government launched the sister school scheme in 2004 to encourage pairings with their mainland counterparts, with the goal of broadening students’ horizons and enhancing their sense of national identity.
In his 2022 policy address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the government's plan to increase the number of local schools participating in the scheme by 10 percent by the end of that year. At the time, around 780 schools had formed over 2,100 sister school partnerships with their mainland counterparts. This indicates a 20 percent increase in the number of partnerships established since then.
For the current school year, each school forming partnerships with their mainland counterparts will receive a recurrent grant of HK$163,000. In the previous school year, a total of HK$129.31 million was allocated to schools participating in the scheme. When asked about extending the scheme to include international schools, Minister Choi stated that the government had no plans to include private and international schools since they are self-funded. However, she mentioned that the bureau would continue to encourage these schools to promote students' understanding of Chinese history and culture.
