Dear Parents,
In view of the recent enquiries received regarding the rise of school coach fees for the coming school year, I am
writing to report on the latest situation so that parents could have a better understanding of the issue.
Due to the expiry of the current contract of school coach service by the end of this school year, our school has to
conduct the tendering exercise for the acquisition of school coach service for the coming 3-year cycle. Between
March and April this year, we invited around 20 school coach / tourist coach operators (including the one currently
serving our school) to tender for the school coach service by mailing out the tender documents. However, it was
disappointing that no replies were received. The school then conducted a second tendering exercise in April and
May by posting advertisements in the newspaper. At the same time, staff-in-charge contacted the school coach or
tourist coach operators one by one to understand the “market” situation.
Meanwhile, it has been widely reported in local press that school coach service is in shortage because the
government has stopped the issuance of school coach licences for years. As a result, the school coach license price
has boosted up more than 10 times in the market within a few years’ time, from just over $100,000 in 2006 to
around $2M this year. Besides, with the profit margin for school coach service much lower when compared with
that for tourist coach service, some of the school coach operators have switched their operation to tourist coaches.
Thus, quite a number of schools are now facing the problem of “no-school-coach-service” as they do not have any
operators responding to their tender invitation. Due to the tremendous rise in the coach licence price and with the
service demand exceeding the supply, it was unavoidable that there would be a substantial increase in the school
coach fees. For details, please refer to the attached news.
Regarding the second tendering exercise, it is fortunate that we have a few operators responding (but still no
response from our serving operator). In accordance with the requirements on tendering & purchasing procedures
stipulated by the Education Bureau (EDB), our Tender Opening Committee had confirmed the validity of the tender
documents and referred them to the Tender Approving Committee for consideration and approval. The Tender
Approving Committee, after considering the number of school coach routes that could be provided as well as the
coach fees, decided on the operator to be offered the future 3-year service contract.
I would like to emphasize that the shortage of school coach service is a territory-wide phenomenon, caused by the
insufficient number of licences as well as the inflating licence price. Without government’s active intervention, the
problems can hardly be solved by individual schools on their own. In fact, various educational organisations have
been voicing out their concerns to the Government recently but no concrete solutions have been worked out so far.
We fully understand the additional financial burden imposed on parents with a high school coach fee. However, it is
unlikely that the school coach shortage problem could be alleviated within a short time. Our school has already tried
the very best in following the EDB’s procedures to secure the school coach service through the conduct of tendering
exercise. We have no authority in amending any tendering documents or negotiating with the selected operator on
the school coach fees. I sincerely hope that every parent could understand the difficult situation encountered by the
school.
Finally, I would like to assure that our school will continue to keep an eye on the latest development of the issue and,
at the same time, monitor the quality of service of the future school coach operator.
Yours sincerely,
WAN Pui Kwok
Principal, Pui Kiu College
[Attachment: News concerning the school coach licences and fees]
發表於 12-6-8 09:32
