The months-long row started after the election of three members who did not speak German fluently to the board in March last year despite a regulation stating only those fluent in the language could take the role.

It sparked moves towards amending the articles so non-German speakers could become directors.

In May, the Consulate General of Switzerland also requested five changes to the articles, including holding a voting seat for a representative from the Swiss School Committee and having a non-voting representative of the Swiss consulate attending all board meetings.

But the special resolution was voted down during an extraordinary general meeting at the school on March 17, with only 22.8 per cent of the 416 members present voting in favour – far lower than the 75 per cent required to amend the article.

In a letter from the Swiss consulate to the school board last August, the government had already said it would withdraw from the school if their demands were not met.

The consulate also warned it would be reserving the option to ask the school to delete “Swiss” from the school name.

The Consulate General of Switzerland has confirmed to the Post it had made those requests, adding legal advice had been sought.

According to the school’s 2017/18 financial statement, cash grants from the Swiss School Committee amounted to HK$1 million, which contributed to employing two Swiss teachers.

The sum is less than 1 per cent of GSIS’ annual income of HK$217 million with most of the revenue coming from tuition fees.

In 2019/20, the Swiss subsidy was HK$500,000, according to GSIS.

A spokesman from the Swiss consulate said: “The financial impact is obviously not significant. But we didn’t consider Switzerland’s commitment to the school only from a financial point of view.”

GSIS said it was “deeply disappointed” and “wholeheartedly saddened” by the Swiss government’s decision, but said the school would continue to preserve its Swiss heritage, with a task force from the country preserving and increasing its Swiss content.

“GSIS will not agree to the Swiss government’s request,” a school spokeswoman said.

“Furthermore, we do not need to take legal action to keep a name we own and we will defend our brand vigorously should anyone take legal action against us.”

Parents, students and staff would not be impacted as the Swiss teachers would remain, she said, adding the school had not received any opinion from the German Government or Consulate on the matter.

The Post has approached the German Consulate General Hong Kong for comment.

A GSIS parent said the dispute was worrying.

“My main concern is that if school management are busy with this, they will not have time to focus on improving school education,” the parent said.

“If this drags too long, I will consider moving my child to another school.”

Top Hong Kong school’s business college shut down for operating illegally

GSIS, which has two campuses in The Peak and Pok Fu Lam, was established in 1969 by a handful of Swiss and German parents.

It provides education from kindergarten to secondary level and its tuition fees range from HK$156,000 to HK$203,000 per year for most of its 1,300 pupils.

Earlier this month, the school was involved in another controversy when the Education Bureau ordered GSIS to shut down its business college by the summer because it was deemed to be providing postsecondary vocational education it had not registered for.