The most expensive kindergarten in the SAR yesterday defended its annual tuition fees of $104,000 per child, saying its unrivalled facilities made it worth the money parents paid.
The high price of schooling at the Yew Chung International School kindergarten emerged in a government audit of fees published this week which showed it cost over $30,000 more than any other kindergarten.
The $104,000 tuition fee - parents must pay extra for the school bus - compares with an annual schooling fee for a university undergraduate in Hong Kong of $42,000. The average cost for a postgraduate master's degree is between $20,000 and $30,000.
The Independent Schools Information Services in Britain said fees for pre-school pupils aged two to seven in private kindergartens in the UK were between $25,000 and $42,000 a year.
Located in Kowloon Tong, the 900-square-metre Yew Chung International School has about 800 pupils whose families are businessmen, professionals, civil servants and expatriates. The school has 13 classrooms, two music rooms, a library and a computer lab. Its 70 teaching staff make the teacher-to-pupil ratio one to 12, rather than the average one to 30.
Kindergarten spokeswoman Theresa Wong said most of the money was spent on hiring top staff and designing teaching programmes suitable for pupils aged from six months to six years.
'We have more than 10 native English teachers, all well-qualified and experienced. We provide air tickets and accommodation for them,' she said.
