Life of Guangzhou - Tears of Joy and Sadness As Kids Put in Their Places

There were tears of joy and disappointment yesterday when primary school students learned whether or not they will be heading to secondary schools of their choice.

But even though the Education Bureau said 4 percent more students than last year got the school they wanted in the Secondary School Places Allocation scheme, it wasn't all good news.

At Yaumati Catholic Primary School in Hoi Wang Road, student Fung Sze-chai and her mother, Kwan Wai-yin, were overjoyed when they found Sze-chai will be going to Marymount Secondary School her first choice.

"I am so happy with my daughter's result. We will have a buffet dinner to celebrate," Kwan said.

But not every one was smiling.

Tears rolled down the face of frustrated parent Mrs Cheung when she discovered that her son, Kam-chung, a Tai Kok Tsui Catholic Primary School student, was assigned to a Band 3 school that was not within his first 20 choices.

She said her son should have been assigned to a better school because some of his classmates with poorer results got into better schools.

"I never thought my son would get an unsatisfactory secondary school placement, so I have not prepared anything to search for any alternative places," she said.

Sharon Lutheran School student Yiu Tsun-wo was disappointed as he was assigned to a Chinese-medium school that was his first choice in restricted Part B section but not his preferred one in the unrestricted Part A section.

"I certainly prefer an English- medium school as it would make it easier for me to apply for university or for jobs in the future," Yiu said.

Meanwhile, Yaumati Catholic Primary School principal Cheung Chi- hung attributed the higher percentage of students getting their first three choices to the shrinking population of primary school students.

This makes the education system less competitive, Cheung said.

(By Gloria Lai)

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