Hong Kong secondary school heads have warned of a “ferocious departure tide” as the supply of new educators has failed to counterbalance the number of teachers leaving their jobs.

The warning on Monday came as the Hong Kong Association of the Heads of Secondary Schools released the results of a survey conducted in September that showed a record number of both teachers and students departed campuses in the 2020-21 academic year. Each school lost an average of 7.1 teachers in 2020-21, with the figure standing at 3.9 in 2019-20 and 4.2 in 2018-19.

“Teacher turnover and the decline in student population are already indisputable facts which may undermine the development of education in Hong Kong and its future development if they are not handled properly and in time,” the report concluded.