Parents for ESF & School Fees

Nothing about the ESF in this week's Education Post, so I'll return to last week's edition. Alex Chiu of 'Parents for ESF' tells me that he was phoned by the SCMP and Oriental Daily to comment on the ESF business plan "The Way Forward", mainly related to the comments in there on school fees. He was quoted in the SCMP article ESF spells out that fees will increase:

Fees across the international sector range from $47,000 to $133,500 a year at primary and between $70,000 and $152,800 at secondary. ESF fees are $51,500 at primary and $82,600 at secondary.

"A modest increase in fees is inevitable if we are to guarantee the standards and quality of education," the document says.

However, Ms Du Quesnay denied there were plans for immediate or dramatic increases that a mid-point figure could suggest.

At secondary level, fees were already similar to competing schools, such as French international.

The document says the foundation will "argue vigorously" to retain the subvention. "However, we shall also take steps to ensure that ESF can weather the removal of the subvention if that is forced upon us," Ms Du Quesnay wrote.

Alex Chiu Chi-suen, member of the action group Parents for ESF, said fees should not be compared with other international schools, because the ESF had to cater for the less well-off needing English education.

"I am not convinced rises in fees are inevitable because there were large increases in September and cost savings as a result of the pay cut for teachers," he said

Alex was also contacted by the Oriental Daily News, and that article was published last Tuesday (I don't have a copy and I'm afraid that anyway I can't read Chinese). Alex goes on to say that:

My voice is that ESF should not raise school again at least in near future. I think parents should voice out clearly to ESF against fee rise again.

Comment: My impression is that Alex and the rest of his group are doing a lot more than the ESF itself to defend the subvention. So far it seems that their lobbying is quite effective and that the ESF enjoys a good level of support in Legco. Further, the Education & Manpower Bureau (EMB) appear to have backed away from their previous position that it was inevitable that the subvention would be abolished, but it's not clear what will happen next.