Hong Kong’s St Paul’s Church Kindergarten to close North Point branch, merge with Central facility starting next September

A Hong Kong kindergarten with 73 years of history has announced it will close its North Point branch next September and merge it with its Central location, citing the challenges posed by low birth rates and an emigration wave in the city.

The Education Bureau on Saturday confirmed that St Paul’s Church Kindergarten in North Point would cease operations next September. The announcement follows a series of other school closures in the pipeline.

The bureau said in a statement that all of its pupils could choose to continue their studies at the kindergarten’s Central branch.

“The Education Bureau has reminded the school to notify parents and other stakeholders about its relevant arrangements as quickly as it can,” it said.

“The school should also keep close communication with other branches and provide appropriate advice and assistance.”

The kindergarten said in a recent statement that it had suffered from declining student numbers and substantial financial deficits following the Covid-19 pandemic and an emigration wave in the city.

“The school has been grappling with heavy rental pressure … but the Education Bureau has failed to provide full rental allowances for us, resulting in the school sponsoring body suffering huge deficits,” it said.

“After serious consideration of many factors, we decided to merge St Paul’s Church Kindergarten in North Point and in Central, with the former ceasing operation from September 1, 2024.”

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The bureau said parents could inquire about vacancies in other kindergartens by contacting the relevant district school development sections and its joint office for kindergartens and childcare centres.

The kindergarten’s Central branch was founded in 1950, while its North Point facility, which has 277 students as of September last year, was established in 2013.

The announcement of the merger comes after Kentville Kindergarten in Kowloon said in September that it would close down in three years, citing low birth rates, emigration of young families and staff retirement.

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Hong Kong has been hit by a double-whammy of low birth rates and an emigration wave. Several countries such as Canada, Australia and Britain have offered pathways for Hongkongers to secure permanent residency following Beijing’s imposition of the national security law in 2020.

The city is struggling with one of the lowest birth rates in the world, with the figure declining each year since 2017. About 53,700 births were recorded in 2018, 43,000 in 2020, and just 32,500 last year, making it difficult for schools to plan with any certainty their future operations.