Top girls' school in U-turn on Direct Subsidy scheme
St Stephen's shelves 'deeply divisive' plan to join Direct Subsidy Scheme which some parents fear would close door to the low-income pupils
Elite government-aided school St Stephen's Girls' College has decided to shelve a "deeply divisive" plan to join the Direct Subsidy Scheme.
The decision, announced by the school council yesterday, came after the government last month turned down an application by another elite girls' school, St Paul's Secondary School, to join the scheme.
The priority is to reunite the school, as different stakeholders have been heavily divided over the issue
It also followed protests by parents and former students who feared that fees charged after the change would deny low-income pupils the chance of an elite education. Schools in the scheme can impose fees and have greater freedom than aided schools in such areas as curriculum.
The school, which had proposed that both its primary and secondary schools join the scheme, said yesterday that its task force set up to study the idea had recommended suspending the plan after concluding that the consultation process - which saw more than 30 sessions over three months - had been insufficient.
"[The plan] has proven to be deeply divisive to the school community, and has negatively affected the unity of the school," the task force said in its analysis.
Executive councilor Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, an alumnus of the school, said she supported the council's decision.
"The priority is to reunite the school, as different stakeholders have been heavily divided over the issue," she said.