Fees will rise

The ESF Executive committee met on 24 April, and have confirmed that there will be fee increases again this year (minutes of the meeting on the ESF website here). The exact figures have not been announced.

According to the minutes, a letter will be sent to parents explaining the need for an increase, and a reply will also be sent to Parents for ESF.

Fee increase?

Parents for ESF are concerned about a possible fee increase:

The ESF plans to raise school fee again in Sep07.

The ESF had an annual surplus of HK$26m in 2005-06 and projected HK$40m in 2006-07. There was already large scale fee rise in Sep06.

There were fixed assets of HK$704m in 2005-06 (according to the ESF website).

We expect further significant expenditure reduction from efficiency cost saving / salary cut.

Therefore we do not see the justification for fee rise again. We sent a letter to ESF ExCom to express our view (attached). We encourage parents to express your views or offer any suggestion (you might use this as a forum) on this issue which has great impact to most ESF families, so that these could be reflected before ESF's final decision.

Parents for ESF

This is the letter:

Dear members of the Executive Committee

We note that fee levels were discussed at the Executive Committee meeting on 27th March and, although understanding that a final decision has yet to be made on this issue, are concerned about the possibility that fee levels might rise in the 2007/08 school year.

The members of our group are receiving a number of queries from parents. Several areas of concern are beginning to emerge. These can be summarised as follows:

► whether with the ESF’s assets and income a fee increase is necessary this year; and

► what other funding options are being explored by the ESF.

In order that we have an understanding of some of the contextual issues, might we be permitted to enquire about the following:

1 What proportion of the ESF’s fixed assets of $M 704 in 2005/06 were property assets and how much annual income do these generate for the ESF?

2 Following the fee rise in 2006/07 and the expected drop in staff costs during the same year, what is the projected surplus for 2006/07?

3 What other funding opportunities is the ESF exploring to fund its major building projects?

4 Is the ESF making use of capital grants from the government? And what is the basis for the remark in the ESF Annual Report that government assistance with building projects is “less likely to happen in the future”?

5 What is the level of government subvention for 2007/08 and does this represent a similar level to last year?

6 What is the ESF doing to restore the principle of parity?

Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Yours sincerely

Parents for ESF
Alex Chiu (SJS), Stephen Fong (SIS), Sarah Rigby (QBS), Ana Wei (SIS), Audrey Wong (KJS)

Some comments from parents:

I am most surprised to learn that ESF is considering raising school fees again this year after a substantial rise of school fee last year! ESF is already having surplus so there is no reason at all for raising shcool fee. As for big projects like building new schools ESF should seek alternate funding rather than rely on raising school fees as this is unfair to parents of existing students.

I do believe school need to think whether the rising of school fee is reasonable and responsible to the majority, do think whether it is fair to parents or far away from the spirit of eduction, do hope the managment thinking of the necesary before coming to a decision.

I have 2 kids in ESF. I chose ESF for my kids, with reasons like some of you. After so many years, I viewed ESF as a big family, rather than an organisation, a service provider.I believe the kind of close and harmonious relationship with school and parents can provide the optimal and favorable circumstances to nuture our next generation, who are successful with achievement, alongside with character of integrity, honesty and being responsible to the community.

In the past 3 years, the audit report, the salary cut and the fee rise in 2006 (9 % rise without our notice), these series of event, all tossed up turbulence in ESF circle which has wounded our relationship.

Our feeling is hurt by knowing the possible fee rise again.

We are not convinced by Headquarter for another fee rise !!

Please voice out your opinion before it is too late!!

I am a parent from one of the ESF school in the N.T.

I know for sure that there are lots of mums like myself that volunteer every week at the school on regular basis.

So, actually the school is saving a lot on manpower which we don't mind to contribute.

And I have always felt that school, students and parents are like a community. But now after all these issues coming up, I don't feel confident and trust in the future with the ESF.

Now, I feels that ESF are becoming more and more selfish and too greedy.

Another thing, most of the new teachers are from Australia and New Zealand. I am not trying to be prejudice but I assume that it cost cheaper for the ESF to recruit from these countries. May be we should ask for a good explanation and clarification about that.

Legco Education Panel discusses the new ordinance

[From Alex Chiu Chi-Suen of Parents for ESF] The Education Panel meeting on the new ordinance was held on 22 March. It went well. The only Legco member who mentioned the Subvention issue was Cheung Man-kwong - and he thinks it is justified / fair for ESF students to have similar level of subvention compared with local school students once the new ordinance has been passed and ESF reform has been successfully completed.

The SCMP also had a report from its education correspondent:

Chief vows ESF will keep tight rein on spending
LIZ GOOCH

The makeup of the English Schools Foundation's board of governors and the organisation's auditing system were among issues raised yesterday when lawmakers discussed amendments to the ESF's Ordinance bill.

The bill, which contains substantial changes to the ESF's governance, will be proposed as a private members' bill by Abraham Razack, legislator for the real estate and construction sector.

The bill will replace the ESF's 130-member foundation and executive committee with a 25-member board of governors. The board will consist of 10 independent members, seven parents, three ESF staff representatives, three school council members and two legislators.

At the meeting of Legco's education panel, accounting sector legislator Mandy Tam Heung-man asked how ESF management would prevent a repeat of the excess spending that had occurred in the past, such as seafood banquets. ESF executives made headlines in 2004 when they tried to claim a lunch bill that included oysters and wine.

The foundation's chief executive, Heather Du Quesnay, said the organisation was in the process of implementing an internet-based financial system that would show how schools spent their budgets.

"We're very strict over things like expenses," she said. "You can't put through a claim for expenses that you're not entitled to." She said the ESF hoped to do an internal audit of schools every two years.

Social welfare legislator Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung questioned why the new board would not include a position for parents of children with special needs. Ms Du Quesnay said the board and school councils would be encouraged to invite experts as the need arose.

Catering sector legislator Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, who is a foundation member, called for the positions allocated for Legco members to be given to stakeholders more closely related to the ESF. He said he was unable to attend many meetings because of other commitments.

But a parent representative, Alex Chiu Chi-Suen, said he hoped the board would include Legco members. "It's about monitoring the work of ESF because the ESF gets a subvention and Legco members are well-respected and they would act as independent monitors."

ESF chairman Felice Lieh Mak said the organisation hoped the bill, which was formulated after the Public Accounts Committee called for reform of its governance in 2005, could be passed as soon as possible.

"ESF bullies"

There's a letter in today's Education Post complaining about ESF plans to collect fees for the summer term in advance:

ESF bullies ignore struggling parents

The English Schools Foundation has revealed its latest bullying tactics ("ESF clamps down on summer exodus", Education Post, March 24).

Many thanks to Heather Du Quesnay and Chris Forse for a new stab in the back, as usual introduced without agreement from the parents. Many hard-working families who struggle to pay the high fees may be forced to forfeit their summer holidays in order to deposit their hard-earned money in the ESF's fat bank account in advance.

Ms Du Quesnay states that 170 students lost over summer is a "huge loss". Nonsense. With 12,000 students, that represents 1.4 per cent. There are two disturbing points to mention:

* Many families survive on large education subsidies from their companies, paid at the start of each term. Companies will not bring forward the subsidies to June, causing hardship.

* The ESF obviously presumes fewer empty seats will mean more fees and therefore more income. Will the school fees be reduced then? Will parents see the interest from the extra $75 million that will sit in the ESF's bank account all summer?

Parents should be given the financial facts to choose whether to maintain the current fee schedule or pay September's fees in advance and receive a discount.

NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED

Comment: I don't always agree with Heather du Quesnay, but this does seem to make sense. Other fee-paying schools in Hong Kong work in a similar way (and/or require parents to buy debentures), and as the ESF is a non-profit organization, the interest earned and extra revenue (from operating at capacity) must surely translate into lower fees or better services.

Parents who are lucky enough to have fees paid for them could surely ask their employers to pay the September fees in June.

As for letting parents decide, I believe this has been discussed with the JCPTA, and full consultation with parents would be time-consuming and expensive - and would most likely produce the same result.

ESF announces scheme for companies to pre-book places

From the ESF site:

English Schools Foundation (ESF) announces surety scheme for international employers)

In response to concerns about a shortage of international school places in Hong Kong, ESF has introduced a new scheme to enable companies to secure school places for expatriate employees before their arrival in Hong Kong. The scheme runs from 2 April until 30 June and allows an employer to secure places for the children of incoming employees for the next school year – subject to availability.

“Until now, parents could only apply for places at ESF schools once they had arrived in Hong Kong,” explained Chris Forse, Head of Parent and Student Services at ESF. “This added to the stress of relocating. Where places are available, an employer will now be able to remove that uncertainty.”

The Corporate Surety is a non-refundable payment equivalent to a maximum of three months’ school fees (if paid in April) or a minimum of one month’s fees (if paid in June). If a place is available in the required year group and in the relevant school zone, it may be booked ahead of an expatriate family taking up residence in Hong Kong during the summer months. Children are required to pass a language test upon arrival in Hong Kong.

It's also in today's SCMP (Companies to pre-book places at ESF schools)

September school fees to be due in June

From Education Post (ESF clamps down on summer exodus):

The ESF has been dubbed the "elitist schools foundation" for imposing a deposit on parents from June to confirm their children will be returning after the summer holidays.

But the English Schools Foundation says the payment is necessary to avoid schools being left with vacancies in September as a result of a sudden exodus of pupils.

It has also warned that from this summer parents wishing to withdraw a child would have to give two months' notice in writing or risk forfeiting the money.

The deposit, which will be equivalent to the fees for September, brings the ESF in line with other international schools across the city.

The facts are that this is a real problem for the ESF. It's not uncommon for families to leave Hong Kong during the summer break, and unfortunately some of them fail to inform the ESF - and so the first the schools know about it is when the child doesn't arrive at the start of the Autumn term and the fees are not paid.

This not only costs the ESF money, it also prevents other children from taking up places.

ESF chief executive Heather Du Quesnay said the measure did not amount to a fee increase. "We lost more than 170 students over the summer last year from our primary schools," she said. "That's a huge loss. We were telling other parents no places were available when actually we could easily have taken them in. All we're asking parents to do is to treat us responsibly."

She said schools would offer assistance in cases of hardship, such as by giving longer to pay, but there would be no exceptions.

But parents say the deposit was imposed without consultation and would present a heavy financial burden for the less well-off.

Chris Green, who has a daughter at South Island School, said: "It just came out of the blue, a fait accompli. Parents don't seem to have been consulted at all." He said that having just paid up for the final term of the year, parents often held off paying for the first term of the new year, which was longer and more expensive, until August.

"Secondary fees for the third term - April to June - are $24,780 which we are asked to pay now. The first term of new school year fees are $33,040, which we will be asked to pay in June under the new edict instead of past practice, having up to the start of the new school year to pay," he said.

JE Dale, whose daughter attends Sha Tin College and whose son is on a waiting list said: "They should call it the elitist schools foundation. It is penalising normally good-paying parents because of the actions of a few. Not all of us are in the top salary bracket or on lucrative company packages. The ESF no longer serves the needs of the ordinary English-speaking students of Hong Kong, only wealthy ones."

However, chair of the Joint Council of Parent Teacher Associations, Jane Tracey, said: "It was discussed previously and we understand why it is being brought in. It is fairly common practice with other schools and fairer to students who can't find a place but who find that come September there are vacancies after they have already joined another school."

Yes, parents are being "penalised" because of the actions of a few, but the ESF are trying to discourage this behaviour and ensure that the schools are kept as full as possible - and ultimately this should help to keep school fees lower. It's very common to have to pay in advance for a service and to have a notice period, so I don't think the ESF is doing anything unusual.

Incidentally, I think J E Dale has misunderstood what is being proposed. The ESF is only asking for one month's fees in advance, not the whole Autumn Term.

Date set for new Ordinance to be proposed to the Legislative Council

Education Post reports that the bill to amend the ESF Ordinance will be introduced later this month (Legco to debate ESF reform bill):

The English Schools Foundation has revealed that real estate and construction sector legislator Abraham Shek Lai-him will propose its amendment bill to the Legislative Council.

The bill includes substantial changes to the organisation's governance. Legco's education panel is due to discuss the Ordinance (Amendment) Bill on March 22 before it is formally gazetted with the council.

The private member's bill, which was formulated after the Public Accounts Committee called for reform of the organisation's governance in 2005 and criticism by the Director of Audit, will replace the ESF's 130-member foundation and executive committee with a 25-member board of governors.

The board will consist of 10 independent members, seven parents, three ESF staff representatives, three school council members and two Legco members. ESF chief executive, Heather Du Quesnay will be a non-voting member.

Mr Shek, who was a member of the Public Accounts Committee, said he decided to propose the bill because he believed the continual development of the ESF was important for Hong Kong. He was confident the bill would be passed.

"I do not see why they won't pass a bill that strives to introduce improvement and recommendations of good governance to the foundation," he said.

ESF chairman Professor Felice Lieh Mak said the ESF was confident that the bill addressed the criticisms that had been levelled at the organisation.

The revision of the organisation's governing structure also sets the stage for negotiations over the future of the ESF's public funding.

Open days

As previously noted, the ESF continues to have waiting lists for many of its schools, but others are suffering from a shortage of applicants. Some re-zoning has been done, but that still leaves some schools with a problem.

To address this, four of the junior schools (Quarry Bay, Bradbury, Peak and Clearwater Bay) are having open days on Friday 2^nd March.

One thing to note about this is that starting from the next school year (2007/8), funding for ESF schools will be based on the number of pupils they enrol.

Recruitment

From today's Education Post (at the end of this article):

ESF begins teacher recruitment drive

The English Schools Foundation has begun its major recruitment drive for the year, seeking applications for 80 primary and secondary teaching positions. This year's intake will be the second cohort of teachers to be employed after salaries were cut by 5 per cent last year, following a remuneration review.

Peter Craughwell, the ESF's head of corporate communications, said teachers who were on contracts that predated the remuneration review would move on to the new conditions in September.

Mr Craughwell said 97 staff members had resigned this year, compared with 130 last year.

Last year Julian Harniess (then chair of the Association of Professional Teachers of ESF Schools) expressed the view that significantly more teachers would resign this year than did last year (ESF teachers are on 2 year contracts, so the theory was that they would wait until the contract ended before making a decision). It seems that this has not happened.

Actually, I'm not sure that this figure of 80 vacancies is correct - I heard 129 - but thankfully it seems that there hasn't been a huge exodus of teachers. I know that this is still a sensitive subject, so I won't make any comment except to say that, as a parent, I hope that the ESF can retain good teachers and attract high-quality candidates to replace those who are leaving.

Mr Craughwell said 1,089 applications were received this week but he expected the foundation would receive more over the weekend.

The ESF will hold interviews in Hong Kong early next month, followed by interviews in Australia and the UK.

The ESF has also advertised the position of director of education. The position, formerly known as education development director, is currently held by Graham Ranger. The advertisement says the director of education will be instrumental in shaping the foundation's educational policy.

As I understand it, Graham Ranger recently resigned from the ESF to take up a position as a principal of a school outside Hong Kong.

Also in today's Education Post

Foxcroft new head of West Island
Jane Foxcroft has been appointed the new head of West Island School, ending a selection process that has taken more than a year and involved two candidates rejecting the position.

Lamma parents start petition over zoning changes
Parents living on Lamma Island are upset that their children will have to attend a different English Schools Foundation school than previously planned due to zoning changes.