Education Bureau slammed for allowing Hong Kong’s private schools to charge millions for priority enrolment
- ‘Liberal’ interpretation of regulations let private schools charge millions in fees for priority enrolment
- Schools need prior approval from bureau before levying ‘any extra charges’, ombudsman says
Hong Kong’s government watchdog has slammed the Education Bureau for a “liberal” interpretation of regulations that has allowed private schools to charge some parents millions of dollars in miscellaneous fees in exchange for priority in their children’s enrolment.
In a direct investigation report released on Tuesday, the ombudsman revealed that one private school had asked parents for contributions to campus construction and renovations, offering them payment options including an annual capital levy of HK$60,000 (US$7,962), a one-off individual debenture of HK$600,000, and an individual or corporate capital certificate of HK$5 million.
The elaborate financial scheme gave priority in admission to those willing to cough up the larger sums necessary to buy the capital certificates.
Another unnamed school asked parents to choose from a similar set of investment options, with those choosing the priciest option – a one-off, non-refundable gold debenture of HK$3 million – given priority enrolment.
In Tuesday’s report, the ombudsman urged the bureau to set up a “comprehensive application and approval mechanism” to regulate the collection of miscellaneous charges and create a database of them to keep track of the overall picture, rather than simply monitoring annual school fee adjustments.
