Recently, a student from a leading international school shook her head with dismay as she confided that she did not believe in her school's mission statement. She asked: 'How can my school attempt to fulfil its mission, one which speaks of compassion and service, when my school offers no financial aid?'
It broke my heart to hear her words; at the same time, I was never more proud of her. Frankly, in one question, this 16-year-old pinpointed the greatest problem our city's international schools face.
Having a strong financial aid programme is essential to any school that cares about diversity. In today's world, a school that offers no socio-economic diversity is not providing a complete education. To me, the purpose of education is to provide insight.
In Hong Kong, nearly one in five people live below the poverty line. There is also a huge population of qualified children who get priced out of international schools because their highly educated parents simply chose careers that are not high-paying. Simply reading about these people in textbooks while international school students go skiing in Switzerland for spring break is not enough.
As an educator, I feel that, yes, without socio-economic diversity in my classroom, we can still probably cover all the topics. But there will not be depth to the discussion because, without diversity, our scope of vision and experience will always be limited. It's like learning history exclusively from watching the History channel.
I have got into many heated debates over this. Some people say diversity is overrated, and international schools are already competitive in Hong Kong without giving slots to those who cannot afford the full price. Such students wouldn't feel comfortable or be able to cope with the rigours of the programme. So why bother? Whenever I hear such criticism of financial aid, it feels like a slap in the face, given that I would not be where I am today if it were not for such assistance.
