Long-term HKIS student fights back at criticism of school
The Education section's lead article on October 18, 'HKIS in a state of tension, says interim report', seemed to be a public attack on a high-profile school. The article included just one named source. Conspicuously omitted was the concluding paragraph of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges saying it 'is confident that HKIS will prevail in dealing effectively with the school climate and communications issues they are currently facing and, when addressed, will continue to improve an already very good school'.
If staff members are unhappy with their work environment, it is cause for concern, but does it merit a newspaper article? At least consider that it might just be the 'very good school' that WASC thinks it is. Consider that for kids whose parents' globe-hopping careers have left them with little sense of home, schools like HKIS are invaluable. Kids like these - like me - need a school like HKIS because it makes our international lives a little more local.
HKIS is far from perfect. But if the Post wants to be a forum in which HKIS is criticised, it must also highlight the school's strengths. It must be thoroughly fact-checked (HKIS was founded in 1966, not 1935 as the article suggests), and present both sides of the story from credible sources. Because I know, first hand, that there are staff at HKIS who are more than content with their employment. I won't let an article attack my school of nine years without putting up a fight of my own.
KEANE SHUM,
Ap Lei Chau
