報讀國際學校 先劏一頸血

elbar

http://paper.wenweipo.com/2013/08/19/YO1308190014.htm


——入學費達2萬不設退還 教界籲增財政透明度

　部分香港家長對國際學校趨之若鶩，這類學校除競爭激烈、學費較貴外，其報名及相關的「入場」費用門檻之高亦受到關注。本報翻查約20所國際校資料顯示，報名費用已達500元至3,000元不等，又同時增設「評估費」、「入學費」等，部分甚至高達1萬至2萬元，而且幾乎全部不設退還。換言之，若學生未獲錄取，絕大部分學校會將費用「袋袋平安」。有教育界人士直言，國際校學額向來「求過於供」，質疑學校收取高昂報名及留位費的合理性和必要性，並呼籲校方加強財政透明度；家長代表則期望政府加強監管學校收費情況。

報名評估入學費 名目繁多

　按多所國際校網頁顯示，學生如有意報名入讀，須先繳交一大筆費用。其中以加拿大國際學校收費名目最為繁多，除要繳交2,350元報名費，也因為要接受校方提供的能力評估測試，再交1,650元「評估費」；如學生被錄取，也需要支付1.25萬元「入學費」，意味仍未真正接受該校的教育，家長已要預先付出1.65萬元。該校網上通告更列明，所有款項將不獲退回或轉移為學費的一部分，而有關費用均待教育局批准。

　另香港學堂國際學校學生入學前需繳交2,800元報名費和高達2萬元的入學費，合共2.28萬元；哈羅香港國際學校亦要求新生繳交1,500元報名費及1.2萬元入學費，共1.35萬元；啟歷學校亦要求新生預先繳交2,500元報名費及1.5萬元入學費。上述學校所收取的費用，一律不獲退還，而除啟歷學校的1.5萬元入學費會在第一個學期的學費中抵銷外，其餘學校均無表明所收費用會否用作抵銷學費。

漢基報名費倍增至2,000元

　另部分國際學校報名費價格也有上調，增幅最多達100%，且同樣不設退還。如美國國際學校報名費增至今年1,500元，升幅50%；而漢基國際學校報名費更大幅上調1倍至今年2,000元，本報曾就此致電該校查詢，但校方未有回應。

學額「求過於供」 收費非必要

　香港教育政策關注社主席張民炳認為，國際校在學費外以面試和筆試等名目收取高昂報名及入學費用，做法值得商榷。他表示，部分學校相關收費與「留位費」作用近似，但象徵意義大於實際需要，欠缺必要性，特別是本港國際學校學額向來「求過於供」，家長較少隨意放棄學位。他又指，即使是自資專上院校，收費情況都要按程序公開，並向公眾交代，故期望國際學校亦能加強財政透明度。

國際校屬私營 政府難監督

　灣仔區家教會聯會主席顧羅素君表示，國際校屬私立經營，政府難全面監督，而該類學校質素及師資等都具「品牌效應」，收取高昂費用亦無可厚非，「這也符合自由市場的運作，因為報讀國際校的學生都來自有錢家庭，不介意繳交相對高昂的學費；但在於家長立場，當然不樂見這情況發生」。而就部分國際校有濫收入學費之嫌，她期望政府透過「抽樣調查」等方式加強監管。


國際校收費情況（部分）

學校　　　　　　　收費類型　　　金額(元)

香港學堂國際學校　報名費　　　　2,800*

　　　　　　　　　入學費　　　　20,000*

加拿大國際學校　　報名費　　　　2,350*

　　　　　　　　　評估費　　　　1,650*

　　　　　　　　　入學費　　　　12,500

香港澳洲國際學校　報名費　　　　1,500*

　　　　　　　　　留位費　　　　15,000

哈羅香港國際學校　報名費　　　　1,500*

　　　　　　　　　入學費　　　　12,000*

香港國際學校　　　報名費　　　　2,000

　　　　　　　　　入學費　　　　15,000

啟歷學校　　　　　報名及評估費　2,500*

　　　　　　　　　留位費　　　　15,000(可用作抵銷首學期學費)

新加坡國際學校　　報名費　　　　3,000*

　　　　　　　　　入學費　　　　13,000

德瑞國際學校　　　登記費　　　　2,800*

　　　　　　　　　評估費　　　　3,200*

漢基國際學校　　　報名費　　　　2,000*

美國國際學校　　　報名費　　　　1,500*

*列明不設退還

資料來源：各學校網頁

clubmed

"不过够高大威猛.(同骑师比)", 高過啲騎師都係， 但大就........, 我見好多騎師都手瓜起展噃， 佢係咪呀? 排骨仔來的。

annie40

She  doesn't need to be another Steve Jobs/Yoyo Ma/Lang Lang.  In my point of view she is unique and would be more precious than all of them.  In 'Steve Jobs' biography, I saw a man who was so fierce to be successful because he worried too much to be a failure.  I took pity on him honestly.

Fish777

honeybunny7 發表於 13-8-26 18:21
回復 annie40 的帖子

Another way to look at it - as parents we're gonna sacrifice ourselves, go into ...

I don't want my kid to be Steve Jobs ah, his life is tragic from a mom's point of view...

honeybunny7

回復 annie40 的帖子

Another way to look at it - as parents we're gonna sacrifice ourselves, go into these disgusting / boring professions and make a lot of $$, so that our kids won't have to choose these professions if they don't want to.  
Who doesn't wish that they had just given birth to another Steve Jobs / Yo-Yo Ma / Lang Lang?

annie40

点解甘多人搶人住认中文唔好, 难度中文唔好就等于英文好到'飞天'吗?

其实他的那口英语还是'麻麻地', 够竟正确一点的说法应否是:

我係'番薯', 我中文唔好,英文唔算好, 不过够高大威猛.(同骑师比), 口才了得, 因此娶得跳水皇后 ,入籍中国,  我唔算是香港人了, 因而可以继续風流快活呢!

honeybunny7

回復 FattyDaddy 的帖子

Not sure about this, tax and regulation could be big reasons to stay in HK.A friend told me her PE firm has the whole team working in Shanghai, but still keeps ~one person and an office in HK for tax reason.  Not a tax expert myself but that's what I heard.
Anyway, I don't think we should discount the HK talents completely.  People dramatize about everything nowadays.  Just relax, we are (still) fine.  :p

FattyDaddy

annie40 發表於 13-8-26 16:01
1) Banker - 人在江湖,身不由自己,说大话机会大. 对精神唔健康

Example, 梁錦松, Citicorp, Chase, JP Morgan

Famous saying, "香港人有咁耐風流 ...", can't remember whether he said the remaining half, but that was enough to cause an uproar, and then what did he say? "我係番書仔, 我中文唔好". What a weasel

FattyDaddy

honeybunny7 發表於 13-8-26 11:01
Top US iBank case:
- MBA preferred
- Top US schools preferred, heavy on-campus recruitment push
- Yes to local HKers from HKUST ...

Thanks for the input, so they do recruit Hongkongers, with preference for HKUST graduates. I'm not in the banking profession so I can't tell whose picture is closer to the real situation, but judging from gut feeling and logic, yours seems to make more sense.

If investment banks have no interest in HK talents, then I see no reason why they bother to set up shop in HK at all, I mean, HK isn't exactly cheap, and renting the kind of premises which these banks like to occupy costs an arm and a leg, so if the bulk of their business interests are in China and they are just parking their US and China employees in HK, they might as well relocate to China completely and save tons of money.

Fish777

annie40 發表於 13-8-26 16:01
最唔想阿女做的工作的原因:

1) Banker - 人在江湖,身不由自己,说大话机会大. 对精神唔健康

美國做doctor死梗，長期比人告

Mrslot

原帖由 annie40 於 13-08-26 發表
最唔想阿女做的工作的原因:

1) Banker - 人在江湖,身不由自己,说大话机会大. 对精神唔健康

I just want my boy to do what he likes to do, I don't really care if he becomes a professional or not, as long as he is happy with his job and he can pay his own bill, I will be happy enough

annie40

最唔想阿女做的工作的原因:

1) Banker - 人在江湖,身不由自己,说大话机会大. 对精神唔健康
2) Doctor -长期的读得辛苦, 工作上压力大, 对身体唔多好! 在美国医生的离婚% 是普通人的八倍,自杀% 又高很多!
3) Accountant - 太苦闷!
4).............

相对而言, 我的想法是非常自私的妈妈心态, 跟making the world better and making more money 完全无关矣!  当然如果孩子们觉得以上工种快乐,满足又多fun, 咪去做咯! 是她做又不是我上班.

Fish777

回復 annie40 的帖子

basically totally agree with you. Except dr is ok if she can choose something more lay back like dermatologist. Ibanker no even for a boy. No offend but I just think working for money alone is meaningless, while being a dr at least can help people.

honeybunny7

回復 HKTHK 的帖子

Yes definitely. Most of us got into banking for the same reason - $$$,
and then we get tired of banking for different reasons.

annie40

最唔想阿女做的工作:

1) Banker
2) Doctor
3) Accountant
4)...........

HKTHK

回復 honeybunny7 的帖子

Almost everyone I knew who worked at ibanks before would agree that they don't really want their kids to go into banking

honeybunny7

回復 shadeslayer 的帖子

Well, i wouldn't say that's a resounding Yes.  I just wanted to confirm that we did hire from HKUST undergrad.  I'm not sure if we hire from HKU and CU, but I did interview a handful from HKU though they were not impressive.  HKUST has programs that feed well into some sections in banks so the cream of their crops do get selected.  It also seems that HKUST in general expose students to more project-based learning.
But, you have to know, the hiring in these past few years have been scarce when compared to the heydays of banking, so the sample size I'm referring to is really small.

In terms of why not or few from HK schools, here are some observations:
- During college years, my friends from HKU and Imperial College used to talk about how hard they must study the past papers of each professor and memorize the answers, because the professors often recycle exam questions.  I laughed at such laziness of the professors.  At Penn that never happened, learning is through weekly projects, and there's nothing to memorize, as we are all allowed to create our own cheat sheets.  US schools want students to learn to apply and manipulate knowledge, not just to memorize them.
- At a top global consulting firm, US-based, undergrads at top US schools are recruited as analysts, but only master degree or PhD degree holders from top EU schools (Cambridge, Oxford, etc.) are considered for analyst posts, with the same pay.  Why doesn't the firm hire undergrads from top EU schools?  Because students from these schools are considered as lacking the ability to solve problems independently and work in teams.  This is probably true to some HK uni.
- Under the HK school systems, which focus so much on marks instead of actual learning, everyone wants to take short-cuts.  Relatives working as professors / researchers at HKU / CU / PolyU told me stories how their labs' people would cite each others' papers for NO good reasons just to pump up the "overall citing counts".  That's such a shame!  During my undergrad years I worked for researchers whose ground-breaking research get cited across the globe, so a small potato like myself could get my name on published papers via hard work.  Cutting corners like that is like cheating, to me.  

Note that my observations above may be limited, so if you have other ideas please do share.

honeybunny7

In my experience, hiring at iBanks and consulting look for independence and critical thinking, which HK traditional school training doesn't provide.  But HK students possess drive, strong financial understanding and interest, and the ability to handle both the Eastern and the Western at ease, and that's a selling point to banks and consulting practice in HK.  

Mainlanders returning with a degree from top US schools are fluent in Mandarin, and somewhat okay in English, and they understand the local Chinese culture, making them perfect for conducting businesses in the fields of iBank-Corp Fin, Consulting (particularly the SOE teams), and Private Equity for example.  iBank-Research also requires super strong Mandarin fluency so Mainlanders would have edge, but there are some local HK grads with that level also.  But in my observation, the mainlanders can sometimes appear to be so ignorant and arrogant and naive that they get dinged after the first round.  Being self-centered and non-team-player is their biggest enemy if they want to work for somebody, but HK students also suffer the same shortcoming albeit in lesser degree.   

iBank-sales & trading requires more technical
skills (quantitative in trading / quants, soft quantitative but strong sales ability in sales) and English-speaking, so you can go without any ability to speak in Mandarin in some cases.  From this point, strong HK students can get in, though banks often look for top overseas grads.  Particularly in sales jobs such as deriv sales, young, smart, good-looking girls get the job done.


With all that said, I'd not want my kids to be in banking, and many of my banking friends would concur...  so why bother?

shadeslayer

原帖由 honeybunny7 於 13-08-26 發表
本帖最後由 honeybunny7 於 13-8-26 11:04 編輯

It is interesting that from the subject of this thre ...

Thanks. Would you like to share why few HK Uni graduates hired by ibanks?  Or why a resounding yes to HKers from HkUST and not other Unis in HK?

honeybunny7

It is interesting that from the subject of this thread, we've eventually diverged into the topic of "how do iBanks pick new hires?"

My hubby and I have been involved with hiring analysts / associates within the past 3 years at the top US ibank and the top European ibank, and here's what we've seen:
Top European iBank case:
- MBAs not much priority (in final decision and salary, and usually during 1st round MBAs and other master/PhD-degree holders are grouped together in handling so that means they compete with each others instead of compete with the undergrads)  - Top US schools preferred, top EU schools also acceptable but probably hired through local branch instead of directly by the HK branch
- Yes to local HKers from HKUST
- Haven't seen mainlanders from local HK schools, but yes to mainlanders from top US firms

Top US iBank case:
- MBA preferred
- Top US schools preferred, heavy on-campus recruitment push
- Yes to local HKers from HKUST

*Note that the above is not meant to be comprehensive and is not an attempt in drawing any conclusion.  Please feel free to add your own observation as well.