Conclusion of the review of the ESF subvention

toddler

"Conclusion of the review of the ESF subvention

The details are as follows :

• recurrent subvention, frozen at the current level, will remain in place for three school years from 2013-14 to 2015-16 inclusive; from August 2016, subvention will be phased out year by year, over 13 years, so that the last year group to qualify will be that which graduates in 2028-29;

• Government subvention for Jockey Club Sarah Roe School (JCSRS) and for the Learning Support Centres (LSCs) (a total of HK$28.3 million per year) will be maintained at the existing level, pending a wider Government review of support for students with special educational needs in Hong Kong;

• subject to approval by the Finance Committee of LegCo, a capital grant will be made available to assist in funding the re-building of Island School. The capital grant will be equal to 100% of the cost of constructing a standard design public sector school educating the same number of students. At today’s prices this would be HK$270 million. After the re-development of Island School, ESF, like all international schools in Hong Kong, will not be entitled to any financial support except for an interest-free loan for construction of a school on an allocated green-field site.


The implications of these proposals are that :

• all existing students will continue to benefit from the subvention (frozen at its current level) until they either graduate from ESF schools in Year 13 or leave the system;

• all students joining ESF in the school years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 will be qualified for Government subvention frozen at current levels as above;

• tuition fees for students entering Year 1 in August 2016 are likely to rise by about 23% to fully cover the reduction in the subvention;

• pending the outcome of the EDB review of support for SEN students, ESF will continue its current practice of topping up the funding for SEN from internal resources, so that students at JCSRS and the LSCs will be charged the same fees as other students in the same school year;

• ESF will fund the balance of the costs of re-building Island School estimated at HK$1.3 billion at 2012 prices.  The school will be re-built on its current site and the Education Bureau has assured us of their full support in the search for sites to which students can be temporarily transferred during construction;

• ESF will continue to pursue strategies to contain fee increases as far as possible and secure long-term capital sustainability"

Is it a good news or bad news?

md23

Pretty obvious, right? Good for those in the system or going to be in the system in the next couple of years. Bad for those not. Also, you might expect the competition of getting into ESF to decrease a bit, so depending on how loaded you are, it may either be good or bad. In the long run, the ESF system would probably compete more directly with other international schools, and thus have more pressure to maintain their academic standard. However, given the long history, I would say for the most part, things will be the same.

Mighty

MD23, good summary.  But I would say the competition will be much less than now.  Some people who target at ESF schools are mainly because of its lower fees than other ISs.  So if its school fees increases 20% or more, well whatz the point?

md23

原帖由 Mighty 於 13-06-08 發表
MD23, good summary.  But I would say the competition will be much less than now.  Some people who ta ...

I agree. But even with the 23% increase, ESF still has a lower tuition than comparable schools, right?

eryca

Out of curiousity, is fee the only competitive advantage at ESF schools?

Mighty

Put it this way : Not the ONLY point but a very important point.  

21Ckid

There is a difference between chinese and westerners. For westerners, some will opt out to more prestigeous schools like CIS, HKIS, Harrow, Kellett etc. They have much wider choices. For us, we don't have a choice. whatever the fee level, a seat at ESF is already the best wish. CIS or HKIS are just too.... remote.

nintendo

eryca 發表於 13-6-9 16:58
Out of curiousity, is fee the only competitive advantage at ESF schools?

對你可能唔係，但對好多家長一定係。

Mighty

21Ckid 發表於 13-6-10 04:46
There is a difference between chinese and westerners. For westerners, some will opt out to more pres ...

正如ＮＩＮＴＥＮＤＯ所講、対我地中層来説、学費是重要環節之一。　不過想回応下２１ＣＫＩＤ的説法、其実ＥＥ＋好多ＷＥＳＴＥＲＮＥＲＳ都係一般中産階級、可能２１Ckid仲係「恋植」、意為ＷＥＳＴＥＲＮＥＲＳ等如有銭人？　５同左架ＬＡ。　所以這個転変、対一Ｄ没有公司資助的ＷＥＳＴＥＲＮＥＲＳ来講、都好惨架。

FattyDaddy

Mighty 發表於 13-6-10 13:23
対一Ｄ没有公司資助的ＷＥＳＴＥＲＮＥＲＳ来講、都好惨架 ...

Western foreigners don't have a big problem, if they find international schools in Hongkong too expensive they can always return home, and education back home aren't exactly bad either. Non-western foreigners, e.g. South Asians and South East Asians may face a somewhat more difficult choice, because returning home may not be a very attractive option.

The group of people who are most affected are local parents who are not well off, have no plans to leave Hongkong, but nonetheless wish to avoid putting their children through local education. Previously ESF was an affordable solution but it will no longer be so.

shadeslayer

原帖由 21Ckid 於 13-06-10 發表
There is a difference between chinese and westerners. For westerners, some will opt out to more pres ...

. For us, we don't have a choice. whatever the fee level, a seat at ESF is already the best wish. CIS or HKIS are just too.... remote.
Xxxxxx

Why remote?  School bus?

Why can't you also choose CIS, HKIS?  Why are they reserved for westerners?

shadeslayer

School fee will rise from 6xK to 80K, still one of the cheaper choices and they remove the discriminatory Cat 2 admission policy. If adding a little more than 1k a month the family will be in trouble, then ESF at the old school fee is likely to be already too much for these families. The NR seem to be selling well, which indicates that there are a lot of well off people wanting to get into ESF.

Overall impacts should not be too much.

21Ckid

回復 Mighty 的帖子

"恋植“？我以为上了高登或看生果报！！

Harrow 开了抢了很多老外ESF学生，DC还因此大亏损，要狂加学费。学费差这末远都转，何况ESF要加费。

香港近年多了很多穷鬼，但都是单身多，反之，金融法律会计服务等行业多了很多高薪鬼佬/鬼婆，在中环活久了的人就知道了。

21Ckid

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

I mean the chance is remote. Non-debenture holders, non-alumni, non-siblings, non-mainlanders (for CIS), chance of getting into ealry year grades of CIS and HKIS is very very low.