Hong Kong judge alerts ministers to governance problems at German Swiss International School
- School has been engulfed in fierce debate over language requirements for board members
- Remarking on an ‘intractable and unpleasant dispute’ over seats, High Court judge flags up his concerns to the government
A legal battle over language requirements for board members at the German Swiss International School has ended with a judge finding its governance so troubling he questioned whether it could operate lawfully and referred the matter to the secretaries for justice and education.
Mr Justice Jonathan Harris raised his concerns in dismissing an appeal bid by a student’s parent on Tuesday, seeking to challenge the judge’s earlier ruling the Race Discrimination Ordinance would apply to a school.
German Swiss International School, with about 1,200 students enrolled for the new academic year, has been embroiled in a debate over how central a role German-speaking ability should play in the organisation when nearly three-quarters of pupils are in the English curriculum stream.
The school’s regulations require all board members to be fluent in written and spoken German, conduct meetings in the language and elect a chairman and two deputy chairmen with a German-speaking background.
The school had asked the High Court to step in after three Chinese parents were elected as board directors last year but were given the title of only “pending director” as they did not speak German.