國際學校愈多愈好（李秀恒）

elbar

繼誕生過六名諾貝爾經濟學獎得主的名牌商學院「美國芝加哥大學布思商學院」，以及國際貴族學校運營集團NAE將於今年在香港開辦學校之外，最近又再有兩個著名海外教育團體宣布來港辦學，包括新加坡名校伊頓國際教育集團，將分別在大潭及大埔開設幼稚園，更打算未來開辦小學及中學；另一家是創立於美國硅谷的國際幼兒名校Safari Kid，今年也將進駐香港，在薄扶林開設第一所位於東南亞的分校。

有國際名校和教育集團陸續來港辦學，筆者認為是好消息。因早前教育局委託顧問做的研究數據顯示，到二○一六至一七學年，僅就小學而言，本港將欠缺四千二百個國際小學學額。正如特首在施政報告記者會上提及，他與多個外國商會進行交流時，曾收到反映，認為香港的國際學校學位不足，使一些高層人員因未能解決子女讀書問題而裹足。
                                    
筆者曾擔任過大學撥款委員會委員，知道政府對每位大學生的平均資助每年高達二十萬元，若加上中學、小學及幼稚園等，政府的教育開支負擔甚重。                           

所以，筆者一向贊成吸引國際名校來港辦學，一來可紓緩學位的緊張；二來這些私校經營上是自負盈虧的，不用公帑補貼；三來有利教學模式多元化，讓本港學生多些選擇。更重要的是，國際名校有助吸引更多人才來港定居，毋須再擔心其子女的教育問題。
                           
國際名校愈多，除了容易匯聚人才，培養出來的學生將來亦有可能留港發展，對香港有利無害。
        

李秀恒

MM2H

不敢苟同，未來4仟多學位短缺係點嚟?作者若有細思過往數年國際學校學位增長在於那處，點會認為係加強人才滙入?

正係因為本港教育出問題，海外辦學團體都係大多搵錢在上，多開國際學校只係為政府減壓，免去教育制度上太大嘅反對聲音。但對社會長遠發展並唔係好事，social segregation 只會越嚟越大。

umom

原帖由 MM2H 於 14-03-17 發表
不敢苟同，未來4仟多學位短缺係點嚟?作者若有細思過往數年國際學校學位增長在於那處，點會認為係加強人才滙 ...

Agree!
Apparently, the lack of international school placements is more for the reason that many locals are seeking to escape from the local schooling they do not agree with!
I guess building more international schools eventually mean shutting down more local schools...
There are so many affluent families in HK able to suck up as many international schools as they are established. The problems of lacking international school placements for expats would still exist after even 10 international schools are build in the next 5 years. Eventually, people would be aiming fiercely for the top few IS as there are more choices available.. The mediocre IS would go missing... And there will be still noise about lacking placements.

shadeslayer

原帖由 umom 於 14-03-17 發表
Agree!
Apparently, the lack of international school placements is more for the reason that many loc ...

Harrows was already given a new rule to admit more than 70% non locals. Of course there is the question of many HK locals having a foreign passport. Nevertheless this is a good start and goes to alleviate the problem of IS places for expats.

poonseelai

shadeslayer 發表於 14-3-17 13:12
Harrows was already given a new rule to admit more than 70% non locals. Of course there is the quest ...

I used to think the 70% cap on non-locals is mandatory for all IS.  Perhaps this will give rise to complaints from the locals

MM2H

shadeslayer 發表於 14-3-17 13:12
Harrows was already given a new rule to admit more than 70% non locals. Of course there is the quest ...

Think about why Harrow is willing to comply with this rule...
By doing so, they bargain with the Govt to obtain the land at a minimal rate, in return making it "pretty" for the census statistic for the Govt.  Looking further in Harrow's intention, they're a newly developed school in HK, with this policy, there's 2 birds in 1 stone.  First of all, their ultimate target audience is the mainlander network builders.  Secondly, for these "foreign passport" holders, there's a more likely chance that they will be aiming for tertiary education in their "home country", again, the statistic is working in favor of the school to build up its rapport.