{"id":12048,"date":"2018-01-06T21:36:36","date_gmt":"2018-01-06T13:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=12048"},"modified":"2021-06-18T12:09:55","modified_gmt":"2021-06-18T04:09:55","slug":"many-international-school-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2018\/01\/many-international-school-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Too Many International School Places"},"content":{"rendered":"

The perceived shortage of international school places in Hong Kong is just a misconception<\/em><\/p>\n

Reporters: Eric Park, Nancy Mak, Rivers Zhang<\/strong><\/p>\n

Edited by Rubie Fan, Howard Yang<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some parents go to great lengths to get their children into a good international school in Hong Kong. Many put their children onto waiting lists years before they reach school age, and buy expensive debentures so their children would have a bigger chance of getting an interview or they could jump forward on the waiting list. According to Top Schools, an agent that helps parents with international school applications, debentures cost from HK$25,000 to HK$10 million for top international schools.<\/p>\n

In 2012, the government predicted Hong Kong would be short of over 4,200 primary and secondary international school places by the 2016\/17 school year. The Education Bureau (EDB) said 8.2 per cent of companies looking to hire overseas staff could not do so<\/a> because there weren\u2019t enough international school places in Hong Kong for their children.<\/p>\n

To meet this projected shortage of international school places, the government has been allocating vacant school premises and greenfield sites for developing international schools, as well as providing interest-free loans for the construction of international schools. For example, it granted a piece of land in Tseung Kwan O for HK$1,000 to Shrewsbury International School Hong Kong Limited in 2015 to build a new international school. The grant was controversial because one of the company\u2019s directors is Executive Council member Bernard Chan Chi-Sze.<\/p>\n

However, Ruth Benny from Top Schools says there has never been a shortage of international school places. \u201cThere are always enough, now we have an oversupply,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

2015 figures \u00a0from the English School Foundation (ESF) show that there is an excess of international school places in Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Benny says there is a perceived shortage because most of the parents are fighting to get their children into \u2018first-tier\u2019 international schools. These schools are preferred because of their good reputation, convenient locations and diversified nationalities of the students.<\/p>\n