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Hong Kong allows home-schooling case by case. Parents must make sure children aged 6 to 15 attend school regularly, and the Education Bureau assesses each family that wants to home-school.
This guide covers what the Education Ordinance says, how the EDB assesses families, where an online school fits, HKEAA exams, costs, and university entry.
Home-schooling isn't banned in Hong Kong, but it isn't a right either. The Education Ordinance expects school attendance, and the EDB decides each case.
| Source | What it says |
|---|---|
| Education Ordinance (Cap. 279), sections 74 and 78 | Parents have a legal responsibility to make sure children aged 6 to 15 attend school regularly |
| Section 74 | If a child isn't attending school without reasonable excuse, the Permanent Secretary for Education may serve an attendance order naming the school the child must attend |
| Section 78 | A parent who fails to comply with an attendance order without reasonable excuse commits an offence, with a fine at level 3 (currently HK$10,000) and three months' imprisonment |
| EDB reply to the Legislative Council, 2014 | The EDB doesn't encourage home-schooling in place of school, but won't disallow it as a rule. It examines each case for whether the family can provide an all-round education |
The Ordinance doesn't set out a home-schooling procedure, so the EDB's case-by-case assessment is the route. When it answered the Legislative Council in October 2014, the EDB had 25 home-schooling cases.
Parents who want to home-school can write or email to the Education Bureau asking for an assessment.
Read the EDB's reply to the Legislative CouncilWrite or email to the EDB before your child leaves school, or before they would start Primary 1, so the case isn't treated as unexplained non-attendance.
EDB officers contact parents or visit the home to see whether the child's educational needs are being met, and they follow cases up regularly.
Whether the family can provide an all-round education. A structured curriculum, qualified teaching and records of progress help show that.
The Permanent Secretary can issue an attendance order requiring your child to attend a named school.
An online school doesn't replace the EDB's assessment, but it can give the EDB the structure it looks for.
CambriLearn isn't registered with the EDB, so enrolling with us doesn't count as school attendance under the Ordinance. The EDB's assessment still applies.
A curriculum, a live timetable, qualified teachers, marked work and reports, which is the kind of evidence of an all-round education the EDB weighs.
The EDB's published position doesn't distinguish between local and expatriate families.
If your child's education needs to move with you between countries, speak to a consultant about where you'll be living, because the rules depend on the country you live in.
