At least 23 Hong Kong kindergartens have indicated they will close by the end of the current school year in August, marking a 28 per cent year-on-year increase over 2023-24, education authorities’ data shows.
The anticipated rise has been linked to the record-low birth rate in 2022, with children born that year set to make up most of the next batch of first-year kindergarteners. The sector has also warned that more closures may follow if the situation fails to improve.
The city has already seen a dip in the number of registered births this year, with levels for the first five months dropping by about 6 per cent year on year, despite small upticks in 2023 and 2024.
In a reply to the SCMP, the Education Bureau said that as of June this year, 23 preschools had indicated that they would cease operations in or by the end of the 2024-25 school year.
In the first 10 months of 2023-24, 18 kindergartens told authorities that they would close.
The tally for that entire school year later reached 29, comprising 17 non-subsidised local kindergartens, eight non-local institutions and four subsidised local preschools.
Sector leaders said they expected non-subsidised preschools to account for most of the affected kindergartens, citing the city’s high rents and declining student numbers.
Among those set to close are two private preschools operated by Greenfield English (International) Kindergarten, an early childhood education group. The two branches are set to close in August, with the company attributing the move to the falling fertility rate. The group had four preschools in Hong Kong this academic year.
Many of the pupils set to enter K1 in September were born in 2022, when only 32,500 births were recorded. It is the lowest number since the data became available in 1961.
Industry leaders have already spoken about the difficulties of admitting sufficient K1 students for 2025-26.
Wave of closures
The Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers warned that the early childhood education industry could face a wave of closures if the situation continued.
“The current decline in the school-age population in Hong Kong has made it difficult for kindergartens to enrol students. The financial pressure on kindergartens that run full-day classes has become even more severe, with losses occurring year after year,” it said.
The federation urged the government to let subsidised kindergartens running half-day and whole-day classes use public funding more flexibly.
“We suggest the authorities allow the financial surplus of half-day classes to subsidise the financial losses of full-day classes, thereby increasing the financial flexibility of kindergartens and alleviating operational pressure,” it said.
The number of registered births in the first five months of this year dropped by about 6 per cent year on year, with the level going from 14,760 to 13,855. The latter figure echoes levels seen in 2022.
The number of births in 2023 and 2024 stood at 33,200 and 36,700 births, respectively, marking the second and third lowest figures on record.
Choi Lai-fong, vice-chairwoman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers and a private kindergarten principal, said insufficient student enrolment levels would only get worse in the future.
“The uptick is so small, while there are more than 900 kindergartens in Hong Kong. With only about 30,000 babies each year, it is already considered very good for a kindergarten to secure 20 new K1 students for the coming year,” she said.
Choi said subsidised kindergartens with old facilities and private preschools grappling with high rents would bear the brunt of shrinking birth rates.
