Ready to Learn but Nowhere to Go
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SPECIAL REPORT PARENTS’ GUIDE Monday, February 25, 2013 Missed education Ready to learn but nowhere to go Is Hong Kong failing its school kids? Super schools for maths, Play boosts creativity Case studies: Teachers science and financial nous and language skills stand up and deliver Contents PARENTS’ GUIDE Monday, February 25, 2013 04 Cover story Gaps in education 08 Parents turn creative amid frustrations 10 Business gives government a pass 11 Lessons on easing class shortage woes 12 Arts Art beyond art’s sake 14 Case study: At Blooming Buds, kids learn to play 16 Play & Learn Workout for young minds 20 Finance EDITORIAL Money matters for kids Chief Editor 22 Case study: Valuing financial knowledge at HKIS Rex Aguado [email protected] Assistant Editors 24 Languages Ginn Fung [email protected] Young tongues wagging Hilda Poon [email protected] 26 Case study: Kellett welcomes early Putonghua learning Subeditor Tom Eves [email protected] 28 Maths & Sciences A head for numbers Web Editor 30 Case study: Rooting for knowledge at Garden House Carmen Tao [email protected] Editorial Co-ordinator Nick Ho [email protected] Production & Design Editor Jun Cambel [email protected] Designer Bay Leung [email protected] ADVERTISING Sales Manager Dickson Fong [email protected] Senior Sales Executives Florence Ho [email protected] Kelvin Wong [email protected] Sales Executive Rita Ng [email protected] Cover composition: Bay Leung Cover photos: SCMP and agencies Parents’ Guide is published and printed by South China Morning Post Centre Publishers Limited. Morning Post Centre, 22 Dai Fat Street, Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Po, New Territories, Hong Kong. Tel: 2680 8888. This is copyright SCMPPL and distributed free with the South China Morning Post on February 25, 2013. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013 PARENTS' GUIDE 3 Cover Story Gaps in education Some see a worsening shortage of international school places, others note an easing. Is it a policy mess or a mere mismatch? Katherine Forestier investigates Early-childhood queueing Photo: Dickson Lee Trends in students enrolment, by school type (2001-2011) Change between International schools 2001 and 2011 2001 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Primary 15,317 17,614 17,547 17,194 17,075 17,399 18,089 Secondary 11,882 13,636 13,452 13,688 13,844 14,461 14,908 21% Total 27,199 31,250 30,999 30,882 30,919 31,860 32,997 Government and aided schools 2001 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Primary 443,377 357,478 332,761 310,392 289,865 275,341 265,618 23% Secondary 406,161 413,204 411,488 401,185 391,573 373,211 389,108 Total 849,538 770,682 744,249 711,577 681,438 648,552 654,726 Private and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools* 2001 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Primary 34,381 35,424 35,641 37,470 37,808 38,372 39,174 Secondary 38,412 53,935 57,474 63,300 64,049 62,065 63,071 40% Total 72,793 89,359 93,115 100,770 101,857 100,437 102,245 *includes private independent and DSS schools offering international curricula, and other private schools TOTAL ENROLMENT (all school types) 2001 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 International school 27,199 31,250 30,999 30,882 30,919 31,860 32,997 Government and aided 849,538 770,682 744,249 711,577 681,438 648,552 654,726 17% Private and DSS 72,793 89,359 93,115 100,770 101,857 100,437 102,245 Total 949,530 891,291 868,363 843,229 814,214 780,849 789,968 Source: Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics 2012 SCMP he demand is insatiable. As new The situation has left many parents frus- tional school. “It is slightly better in Years 5 international schools open, the trated and worried. After forking out thou- and 6, and at the top of the school. The big- queue for places grows longer. sands of dollars in multiple application fees gest challenge is accommodating families. More than 7,370 children await in a desperate effort to secure a place in an Often we can find a place for one child, but places at English Schools Founda- international school, they still do not know if not the other [from the same family].” Ttion (ESF) schools – almost triple the number their child will be accepted. Some have even It seems that more parents than ever are in 2008. At the Chinese International School, resorted to homeschooling (see Page 8). determined that their children receive an at least 700 children applied for just 88 Re- “The greatest pressure is on Reception, international education, no matter whether ception places last year. Kellett School has and Years 1 to 4,” says Ann McDonald, prin- they are incoming expatriates or local Hong- around 400 children on its waiting list. cipal at Kellett School, the British interna- kongers. The government, meanwhile, has 4 PARENTS' GUIDE SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST been forced to react by offering new land or vacant school premises for the international school sector to expand (see Page 10). Dozens of operators, including leading British independent schools and interna- tional education companies, are ready to step in to meet the demand (see Page 11). The government’s Annual Digest of Sta- tistics 2012 shows that even though the num- ber of school-age children declined over the past decade, the numbers enrolled at inter- national, private and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools steadily increased. In 2011, 32,997 students were enrolled at international schools, up 21 per cent from 27,199 in 2001. According to an Education Bureau (EDB) spokesperson, 1,700 new places were created for the 2012-13 school year. There are now 38,600 places, and 34,400 students enrolled, accounting for 4.7 ITS Education’s Anne Murphy and Danny Harrington with their young wards. Photo: Jonathan Wong per cent of all students in Hong Kong. The EDB says there are a total of 48 inter- government and aided schools, but allows earlier. The EDB spokesperson says they national schools in Hong Kong, consisting of the schools greater management freedom, expect even more families to want interna- the ESF’s 14 primary and secondary schools such as over fees and curriculum. tional schooling in the coming years as the and other private schools. But these exclude DSS and private schools saw a 40 per cent city’s international business sector expands. schools operating under other funding increase in enrolment – from 72,793 to Despite the new places, pressure points schemes that are, in practice, international 102,245 – in the decade from 2001. Aided and persist. Clara Chu Sau-chun, director of resi- schools, or offer the option of international government schools, meanwhile, lost a stag- dential leasing at Colliers International, curriculums such as International Baccalau- gering 194,812 of their student population, monitors school places for her clients. Janu- reate (IB) programmes, General Certificates resulting in the closure of 86 primary and ary data shows most schools had waiting lists of Secondary Education (GCSEs) and Gen- nine secondary schools. of 50 to 100, and some many more. “The early eral Certificates of Education (GCE) A-levels. What the enrolment numbers tell us is primary years are the worst,” she says. These are schools set up under the gov- that a significant shift in schooling prefer- Chu advises families to plan ahead and ernment’s Private Independent School (PIS) ence has taken place. By 2011, 17.2 per cent of apply to four or five schools. They will find a scheme, which offered funding for new students in Hong Kong were being educated place, she says, but not necessarily in their schools in the early part of the last decade, in what can be called the independent sector first-choice school. and the DSS, for which the government pro- – international, private and fee-paying DSS Danny Harrington, co-founder and vides the same subsidies per student as to schools – up from just 10.5 per cent a decade director of ITS Education, says most incom- Share of total student enrolment (%) International schools Private and DSS Government and aided 2001 2.8 7.6 89.4 2011 4.2 12.9 82.9 Source: Hong Kong Annual Digest of Statistics 2012 SCMP MONDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2013 PARENTS' GUIDE 5 Cover Story Waiting to learn 50 pupils Waiting list for ESF’s four kindergartens Total places as of Jan 2013 at ESF’s four kindergartens 1,403 1,163 apple 123 apple 123 apple 123 apple 123 Source: English Schools Foundation SCMP ing families find places for their children London, the most popular schools are over- China may also be another factor driving within a few weeks of arriving. He knows this subscribed,” she says. “Parents are very clear some families away, he adds. from the demand for services provided by in their mind about the schools they like.” “Then there is the ill-fated National and ITS, which include tutoring and placement Steve Thomas, director of construction- Moral Education curriculum – the final straw for both international schools in Hong Kong industry specialists Maxim Recruitment, for many parents,” Adamson says, referring and boarding schools overseas. says that the perceived lack of international to the compulsory curriculum the govern- At any one time, ITS has 10 to 15 school- school places has not been stopping execu- ment was forced to shelve last autumn less children attending its tutorial centre in tives moving to Hong Kong.