Switzerland to pull funding from German Swiss International School in Hong Kong, threatens legal action over name
- Government’s withdrawal bid follows its snubbed attempts for more control over the school
- Row comes to a head in wake of separate controversy over the forced closure of the school’s business college
Switzerland says it will withdraw from a prestigious international school in Hong Kong that it helps fund after its attempts to have more say in running the campuses were voted down last week.
Government officials also threatened the German Swiss International School with legal action if it did not remove the terms “Swiss” and “Schweizerische” from its name.
But the school told the Post on Thursday it would not agree to the request and would take tough action to defend its brand.
In a letter to parents and staff on Wednesday, GSIS’ school board said it had full ownership rights to the name and insisted it would continue to strengthen its Swiss educational content regardless of the country’s involvement.
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.