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- Mar 4, 2013
- Updated: 1:27pm
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English Schools Foundation
The English Schools Foundation (ESF) operates five secondary schools, nine primary schools and a school for students with special educational needs across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories. It is the largest international educational foundation in Asia and was established in 1967 by the Hong Kong Government to provide a seamless, affordable English language education. The curriculum, based on the British system which has now introduced the International Baccalaureate (IB), is adapted to Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific region. ESF schools, which currently teach 13,000 students, receive a subsidy from the Hong Kong Government but also charge tuition fees to parents.
ESF hankers for public funding, despite Eddie Ng's comments
Foundation argues its English curriculum is valuable to all Hong Kong citizens; DSS schools teaching IB could help fight for subvention
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The English Schools Foundation is banking on its strengths to secure continued public funding, despite the government's plan to phase out its HK$283 million annual subsidy.
Education chief Eddie Ng Hak-kim has said it is not government policy to provide subsidies to schools that offer a non-local curriculum, as the ESF does.
He also ruled out treating the foundation like direct-subsidy schools (DSS), as they are required to teach a local curriculum. But ESF chief executive Heather Du Quesnay said yesterday that the ESF schools, with their 13,000 students, were a part of Hong Kong.
"We were established by ordinance in 1967 to offer an education in the medium of English to students who can benefit from it. That is ... not just for expatriates but for any child in Hong Kong who could speak English and wanted an English education. So our history is all about serving local people."
But she acknowledged that it would be "challenging" to get anywhere near the subvention level for DSS schools, which receive government money but operate mostly like private schools.
Both sides are now working to establish a funding level based on the ESF's specific areas of service, including special needs education, teaching of Chinese to non-Chinese speakers, continuing professional development for teachers, students' welfare - including counselling - learning technology, mother tongue support for students whose native language is not English, and applied learning.
"We will see what total amount of money that would generate," she said.
She now expects a decision to be made before the end of this academic year, contrary to expectations that a deal might be struck by the end of this year.
One factor that could influence the debate is that some DSS schools may not be required to teach the "local curriculum" - contrary to Ng's assertion.
There is now at least one exception to the rule.
Li Po Chun United World College of Hong Kong - a sixth-form college in Wu Kai Sha offering the International Baccalaureate - was given special permission to remain in the DSS scheme in the 2000s, after a government working group affirmed the value of its culturally diversified school environment. Currently, about 40 per cent of its students are local residents.
Other DSS schools face rising demand from students for non-local curriculums, such as the IB, Cheung Siu-ming, principal of Creative Secondary School, said.
"What is the rationale of a local curriculum?" he asked. "Any curriculum that helps students get into local universities should be good enough. The IB curriculum suits a world-class international city like Hong Kong."
He urged the government to study overseas cases, such as in Australia, where state schools can offer non-national curriculums.
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9:04am
7:48am
Why does Govt not offer an income tax break on school fees ? there is no need to charge locals for free education but others‘choosing’ ESF have to pay tax on the school fees they pay. Is that fair ?
How will they recruit NETS scheme teachers who have children ?
The current system is inherently unfair especially to locally born children whose mother tongue is not Cantonese and contravenes the Rights of the Child Treaty binding HK. Tom Holland's proposed voucher- for-all system is the only equitable and fair way forward for ‘all’ children.
4:17am
****www.cmab.gov.hk/en/issues/human.htm
What happened to ****www2.ohchr.org/english/law/crc.htm Article 28 ? which part of ‘all’ is not clear to Eddie Ng?
1. States Parties recognize the right of the child to education, and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity, they shall, in particular:
(a) Make primary education compulsory and available free to all;
(b) Encourage the development of different forms of secondary education, including general and vocational education, make them available and accessible to every child, and take appropriate measures such as the introduction of free education and offering financial assistance in case of need;
(c) Make higher education accessible to all on the basis of capacity by every appropriate means;
(d) Make educational and vocational information and guidance available and accessible to all children;
Article 2
1. States Parties shall respect and ensure the rights set forth in the present Convention to each child within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind, irrespective of the child's or his or her parent's or legal guardian's race, colour, ****, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status.
****www.cmab.gov.hk/doc/en/documents/policy_responsibilities/childright2/Part_II-VII-e.pdf
read 483 onwards
4:24pm
In contrast, ESF’s international claim is fake. It flaunts blatant rudeness against the city’s indigenous population by perpetrating a discriminatory admission policy against Cantonese speakers, in defiance of its statutory obligation to admit without discrimination students who can benefit from liberal English education. It serves as a preverse charity to migrant workers of its preferred nationalities by rejecting children of indigenous families living next to ESF schools and paying many generations of taxes; sending them overseas to private schools.
ESF’s English curriculum and its recent shift to IB open back door for its students’ admission to the city’s universities. Diversity is good but it must be managed to avoid duplicitous practice and double standards. IB qualification is not based on standardized public exams. Universities in Hong Kong should only admit “local” applicants based on results of standardized public exams.
10:43pm
11:55am
(2) Map out the student mix of various ESF schools.
It should show where Cantonese-speaking also-studieds serve to make up class size target and to accompany "pupil-princes/princess"
Such stage set is not much needed for esf schools in the island Mid-Levels and above - upper forms excepted because “expat” children tend to disappear higher up and “locals” are needed to fill spaces.
(3) Local schools won’t reject applicants because most of them are short of students; trite demographic fact. They’re banded.
B3 is always open – UNC RotC fully satisfied, ECJ ruling on the Belgian case also fully satisifed.
B1 is competitive. Unlike esf, B1 local schools won’t consider non Cantonese speaking a merit for admission.
9:41pm
Maybe one day all those nasty expats will leave Hong Kong and you can close down the ESF.
2:34pm
