When Laiba Bukhari was growing up in Hong Kong, she wanted to pursue teaching because of the stability it offered.
However, over the past two years, the 23-year-old teacher lost her job not once but twice, as low student enrolment led to the closure of her schools.
Bukhari, who earned her bachelor’s degree in education from The Education University of Hong Kong this year, worked at New Generation English Kindergarten & Nursery in Tuen Mun from September 2023 until the school closed in April 2024.
Next, she worked at Sung Kei Kindergarten in Kwai Chung from September 2024 until the school closed in July.
“A lot of my colleagues are older, so they’ve got families and kids to worry about,” she said, recounting the moment her first school announced its closure. “Some of them were really upset.”
Though Bukhari is young, she also has others relying on her income.
“I’m the only person who can work [in] my family, so I had to find a job right away,” she explained, adding that losing her job so early in her career made it hard to find her next opportunity.
Decline in student numbers
According to the government’s annual report on student enrolment statistics, the city’s kindergartens and primary schools have experienced a steady decline in student numbers in recent years.
In 2019, there were 1,049 preschools in Hong Kong. That number dropped to 980 in 2024 and is expected to continue its downward trend.
Meanwhile, figures from the Census and Statistics Department detailed that the number of live births in Hong Kong fell from 95,451 in 2011 to 36,953 in 2021.
Chu Kwok-keung, the vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, said school closures can be chalked up to low birth rates and the fact that many families have emigrated from Hong Kong.
“Kindergartens in Hong Kong are privately operated,” said Chu, who is also a lawmaker representing the city’s education sector. “In recent years, quite a few have closed because of insufficient enrolment, as well as cost pressures – such as unsustainable rental costs.”
Sense of loss
One of Bukhari’s former colleagues, Alessandra Rosa Dos Santos, had been a Native English Teacher (NET) at New Generation for two years when the school shut down.
She explained that there were some “subtle” warning signs ahead of the closure: “There [was a] ... noticeable decrease in student enrolment and discussions among staff about the school’s financial challenges,” said Dos Santos, who moved to Hong Kong from Brazil in 2003.
Dos Santos, 43, said she was “not entirely surprised” by the ongoing school closures and downsizing given the city’s demographic trends.
“Still, seeing how widespread the issue has become is unsettling and disheartening,” she added.
For Dos Santos, who is still looking for another job, the closure came with a “strong sense of loss” for teachers and students.
“The emotional impact of the closure lingered for weeks. Coping with this change required a lot of resilience, and I leaned on friends and family for support during this uncertain period,” she said.
Fears for future teachers
With her sights set on a long-term career in teaching, Hongkonger Dheana Dhusia, 23, has already received her master’s in comparative education from University College London in 2023 and is currently studying for her Postgraduate Certificate in Education at the University of East London.
Although Dhusia has been working at Hon Wah College as a primary school teacher since last September, she cannot help but worry about her future career prospects if the supply of teachers exceeds the demand.
“The market’s quite competitive at the minute and obviously, they want teachers with experience,” she said.
Dhusia noted that the situation affects more than just teachers in Hong Kong, as students will need to adjust if they are forced to move schools due to one closing down.
Bukhari echoed the sentiment, expressing worry over the impact on a child’s growth.
“It really affects the development of a kid to be taken out [of school] and suddenly be changing teachers every single year. I think it’s very hard for them to develop that sort of long-term relationship [or] friendship,” she said.
To maintain the quality of education and sustain jobs, Dhusia suggested government aid as a possible solution.
Bukhari pointed to the larger issue of low birth rates and said the city’s government needed to make it easier for people to have children.
“Hong Kong is a very expensive city to live in,” she said. “The rent is really high, but the salaries are quite low. There’s a reason why people are not having kids.”
Chu urged the government to find ways to “boost births [and] to foster a family-friendly environment”.
He also worried that the “uncertain outlook” would “discourage” young people from pursuing early childhood education as a profession: “[This would mean] a shortage of kindergarten teachers that could affect the teaching quality in the long run,” he said.
Bukhari, who recently found a job as an English class teacher in another kindergarten, offered advice for aspiring teachers and encouraged them not to give up.
“It is important to keep applying and keep getting interviews because you never know where you can find the perfect school,” she said. “It could be right around the corner or something that you’ve overlooked.”
