- Thu
- Oct 3, 2013
- Updated: 2:23pm
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.
Parents hit again as ESF raises fees by up to 5.9pc
Increases needed to fund pay rises and improve services, says chief executive Du Quesnay
The English Schools Foundation will raise its fees by up to 5.9 per cent as negotiations drag on over the size of the subsidy it receives from the government.
In a letter to parents yesterday, the ESF's chief executive, Heather Du Quesnay, said the increase was necessary to cover a 3.5 per cent pay rise for staff and the cost of improving services. Some parents complained that the fee rises were unaffordable.
Du Quesnay said the ESF Board of Governors had decided on an average rise of 4.5 per cent. Annual fees for primary pupils will go up by 5.9 per cent from HK$66,100 to HK$70,000. In secondary schools, pupils from Form 7 to Form 11 will face a 3.47 per cent rise, from HK$98,000 to HK$101,400. In Forms 12 and 13, fees will rise by 4.22 per cent, from HK$102,000 to HK$106,300.
The ESF also plans to raise the fees of its two independent private schools, Discovery College and Renaissance College, by an average of 9.5 per cent and 7.6 per cent respectively.
Fees for primary schools rose about 13.8 per cent from HK$58,100 in 2008/09 to HK$66,100 in 2012/13, and by 9.8 per cent and 14.3 per cent for Form 7-11 and Form 12-13 pupils.
The latest rises need the approval of the Education Bureau.
A spokeswoman for the ESF said the calculation of the increases had incorporated the ESF's annual subvention of HK$283 million from the government in the year 2013-14. The Education Bureau says it has been liaising with the foundation on the subvention review.
The authorities proposed in 2011 that the English-language school system consider turning private in the long run, amid concerns about whether public money is being effectively spent.
Du Quesnay, who retires in August, said in the letter that the subvention had been frozen at the same level for many years. She said salaries for all teaching and support staff had to be raised to keep pay competitive and to safeguard morale. She also said there were areas where improvement was needed, chiefly for children with special needs.
"The board has agreed to fund additional spending of HK$1.7 million to open or extend Learning Support Classes at Island School and Sha Tin College."
The letter said the board was conscious of the pressure the increases would place on families.
After reading this article, people also read
9:15pm
S - Half the population of HK
S - Half the size of HK
S - Less than half the opportunity of HK - Read HK=PRC.
After that just everything is street ahead of HK. Singapore started revamping their education system some time ago. Now they have one of the most respected education system in the world, we are talking about their local school standard and curriculum. In HK our bureaucrats have taken our education system more and more into the middle ages with nothing to show as far as spearheading the future leaders of Asia and the world. Forget HK students being top in the world, the rote system has its place and will produce some flowers, however it is the Singapore system that will finally produce a nation full of top drawer and reap the rewards in the near future.
What a bunch of losers we have as thought leaders here in HK.
8:39am
Also Local families are competing with English only speaking families for a place at ESF schools; the latter having little or no chance in entering local cantonese schools. This is the problem. ESF schools were created for children who do not have that choice. Hopefully raising the fees would deter locals from taking advantage of the system.
10:08am
12:56pm
i like your view. at the end of the day, it is about choice, and not about ranking and the BS about which is better.
if anyone thinks esf is too costly, move on. the fact of the matter is that they have a long waiting list, so they dont really worry about losing demand when they raise their fees.
the real reason for the long waiting list is that hk govt, despite all their riches, exhibit a lack of will to invest in our kids edu.
there is no need to look at international surveys and rankings, etc. In terms of english language and putonghua proficiency, just go talk to a high school student from a local hk govt school, and u will find that they are seriously deficient. in fact, when we listen to a local school teacher/principal speak in english, we always cringe bec they cant seem to string a sentence in english properly. I want to prepare my kids for a future which will require good skills in english and putonghua. I dont want them to be only proficient in cantonese, which is a useless language outside HK.
6:31am
8:55am
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