- English Schools Foundation (ESF) to open three new kindergartens in Sai Sha, Kornhill, and West Kowloon by 2026, adding 400 first-year seats.
- ESF to close two aging preschools Tung Chung and Abacus International in Sai Kung as part of its campus modernization plan.
- The expansion comes amid declining kindergarten enrollments in Hong Kong, with record-low birth rates impacting admissions.
English Schools Foundation (ESF) of Hong Kong will launch three new kindergartens with a combined first-year intake of 400 in 2026 and shut down two aging ones, the city's biggest network of international schools has revealed. The ESF told the Post on Wednesday that it would launch three new kindergartens in Sai Sha, Kornhill in Quarry Bay and West Kowloon, adjacent to an MTR station.
Two existing ESF kindergartens- the Tung Chung one and Abacus International Kindergarten in Sai Kung will be shut. The Tung Chung preschool will re-open at the Sai Sha complex next year, offering 150 places per year in each of the two kindergarten years, with the possibility of direct entry into ESF Renaissance College in Ma On Shan.
Employees of the existing school would also relocate to the new Sai Sha campus, the spokesman said. Options for the 23-year-old Abacus International Kindergarten, which is set to close in June 2027, are on the cards. "We would like to be back in some form one day in the future, so it is not a eventual closure", the spokesman said.
The Kornhill kindergarten will give students direct entry to ESF Quarry Bay School, the spokesman explained. "This is completely new", he said. He explained that 100 places in each of the two kindergarten classes would be offered.
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On the website of the foundation, Quarry Bay preschool pupils can also expect secondary school places within ESF South Island School upon the completion of their primary level within ESF Quarry Bay School. There will be a new preschool being opened in West Kowloon, next to Olympic MTR station, with 150 seats in each of the two years of kindergarten.
"We haven't named it yet. Students there will get direct entry into ESF Clear Water Bay School and ESF Kennedy School", the spokesman said. There are now five ESF kindergartens in Hong Kong, which charge HK$95,800 to HK$119,700 (US$12,320 to US$15,400) for a half-day session.
The ESF's growth is during the city's early childhood education sector is grappling with declining student enrollments. The Education Bureau spokeswoman said three kindergartens had also indicated that they would close this school year, and 23 closed last year.
She added that there was one new kindergarten which had applied for registration this school year and two others that were applying for registration. The majority of the students that arrived in September 2025 were born in 2022, the year that saw only 32,500 births recorded the lowest since records began in 1961. The births in 2023 and 2024 were the second and third lowest, and it is these children who will arrive in K1 during the following two school years.
