Secondary placement is 'like a raffle' says angry dad
A Filipina student who applied to attend the same English medium of instruction (EMI) secondary school as her elder sister was given a place at her 13th choice Cantonese medium of instruction (CMI) school, even though she was fluent in English and Putonghua, but not Cantonese.
Eldrida Ruiz wanted to attend Cheung Chuk Shan College in North Point, but was allocated to St Margaret's College in Wan Chai. Thirteen of her local Chinese classmates, who also chose Cheung Chuk Shan as first or second choices, were successful.
Her father, Einstein Ruiz, said the only difference he could establish between his daughter and her classmates was her surname, adding he knew of many other Filipinos fluent in English who had also failed to get into EMI schools. 'I don't know whether it was a race thing, but my daughter was the only one with the surname Ruiz,' he said.
'There must be something wrong here. My daughter's primary school has excellent records and she is in the top class within her Primary Six batch which puts her in the Band One group so I don't understand how she ended up with her 13th choice.
'It makes me very sad. It is very frustrating that after six years of maintaining good grades in primary school, her secondary school allocation just boils down to the luck of the draw.' A spokesman for the Education Department admitted there was an element of 'luck' but denied there was any racial element. He said the central allocation system was 'fair' and based on school net, banding, parental choice and random number.
'If the demand for a certain secondary school exceeds its supply, students possessing [computer-generated] random numbers within the same band will be allocated a place first,' he said.
'Two students who have similar academic performances in a primary school and have made the same choices of schools can be allocated places in two different secondary schools as a result.' He said language was not a criteria for the allocation of school places.
'If parents are still unhappy with the situation they should approach the ED to see what kind of help can be offered,' he added.
When asked how Eldrida could be allocated to her 13th-choice CMI school while her classmates received their first or second-EMI choice, the spokesman said: 'I can't discuss individual cases. There is a question of privacy.'
Mr Ruiz now sends his daughter to the English-medium Chekiang Kiangsu International School in North Point at a cost of $6,500 a month.
