In just nine years, Direct Subsidy Scheme schools have established a distinct middle path between the international education offered in the independent sector and the one-size-fits-all approach of government and aided schools.
The 72 schools in the scheme, which are given equivalent funding per student to the average government and aided school but can also charge fees, are allowed freedom to set their own curriculum, admission rules, language policy and class sizes.
Some leading DSS schools are using this leeway to offer their own brand of international education at a fraction of the price charged by most international and private independent schools. They are setting up programmes leading to the International Baccalaureate Diploma - the predominant qualification in the independent sector - alongside the new senior secondary curriculum that is being rolled out across public-sector schools.
Two schools - Creative Secondary School and Diocesan Boys' School - will be the trailblazers in offering the dual curriculum in the new academic year.
DBS last September launched a pre-IB programme, a one-year preparatory course limbering students up for the IB Diploma to be launched this September . Forty-one students are currently in the pre-IB stream, compared with 229 Form Four students taking the first year of the three-year senior secondary curriculum leading to the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE).
Terence Chang, headmaster of DBS, said: 'The IB curriculum helps nurture students' international outlook and their critical thinking by pursuing an inquiry-based learning approach.' A total of 41 students had been selected for the IB programme from more than 60 candidates, most of whom were hoping to attend university overseas.