Christian Alliance International School to open next year in Butterfly Valley
The school, planned to open in phases from August 2017, will provide space for 300 students
A new Christian international school, scheduled to open in phases in August next year, will add 300 more places to the international school scene.
The Christian Alliance International School will open its 2-hectare campus in Butterfly Valley, Lai Chi Kok, and will also take in around 900 students currently enrolled in its sister school Christian Alliance P. C. Lau Memorial International School.
The school’s Kowloon City campus is scheduled to undergo renovation before reopening, while its interim Lai Yiu Campus would be returned to the government when the new school open, said Clarence Chan Ka-yan, Christian Alliance International School’s chairman.
The additional 300 students in the new school, which provides education from prep school to grade 12, will be spread across various levels.
He added student enrolment would be increased to 1,800 three to five years from opening.
Martin Lau Kwok-kit, a council member of the Christian Alliance International School, also revealed the school will introduce an individual capital note of at least HK$400,000 per student, which its sister school did not have.
He explained the sum, which is refundable in full after the student leaves the school, was to help out with the development cost of HK$1.2 billion for the school campus.
Lau added that the capital note was to be paid only after students were admitted.
Parents who do not purchase the capital note will have to pay a capital levy of at least HK$25,000 – which is not refundable – every year.
Parents at Christian Alliance P.C. Lau Memorial International School had an early offer to purchase an individual capital note at HK$250,000 last year.
In terms of school fees, Lau said the school would consult the sister school’s fees, subject to adjustment for inflation.
The annual fee for Christian Alliance P.C. Lau Memorial International School for 2016/17 ranges from $101,200 to $144,400 for grades 1 to 12, subject to the Education Bureau’s approval.
Lawmaker Felix Chung Kwok-pan welcomed the move, saying the additional international school places would benefit expatriates and in turn the business environment in Hong Kong.
According to the findings of a consultancy study completed in late 2012, it is projected that based on the position of the 2011/12 school year, there will be a shortfall of around 4,200 international school primary places in the 2016/17 school year. To address the projected shortfall, the government allocated three vacant school premises for international school development in April 2013, which was expected to provide 1,150 additional primary places and 210 secondary places by the 2016/17 school year.
On the capital note and levy, lawmaker Kenneth Chan Ka-lok, said the amounts proposed were “reasonable” and attractive to middle-class families.
He said these addition payments by parents were necessary and reasonable as long as they are made in a transparent and accountable manner, and benefit students.
