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Following is a question by Dr Hon Kenneth Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):
Question:
It has been reported that the closure of the Tin Hau campus of International Montessori School in July next year and the plan of the School to arrange the affected students to study at its campus in Stanley may bring changes to the number of international school places available in the districts concerned. Besides, quite a number of international schools and local schools have offered International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes, giving students non-mainstream choices in pursuing further studies. In connection with the supply of and demand for the aforesaid two types of places, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the projected numbers of international school places at primary and secondary levels respectively in the 2015/16 school year, broken down by District Council (DC) district;
(2) of the numbers of places and students of IB programmes in the 2014/15 school year, broken down by DC district and school type (i.e. international school and non-international school); the relevant projected figures in the 2015/16 school year; and
(3) given that the authorities indicated in April this year that they had commissioned a new round of study to update the latest position of international school places at primary and secondary levels and to better understand the nature of the demand in the next few years, whether the authorities will concurrently study and assess the future supply of and demand for IB programme places and, on the basis of the results, plan for (i) the supply and distribution of these two types of places, and (ii) the ratio of local students to non-local ones in such schools/programmes; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government is committed to developing a vibrant international school sector through various measures mainly to meet the demand for international school places from overseas families living in Hong Kong and families coming to Hong Kong for work or investment. Currently, there are 50 international schools (excluding one special school) offering more than 10 non-local curricula, including the British, American, Australian, Japanese, Singaporean, French, German, Korean, Canadian and the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes, for students of different nationalities in Hong Kong.
Apart from international schools, there are seven Private Independent Schools which provide non-local curricula including the IB programme. With approval from the Education Bureau, some schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) also offer the IB programme at Secondary 5 and Secondary 6 levels to provide students with an additional curriculum choice. Nevertheless, these DSS schools are still required to offer principally a curriculum targeting local students and prepare them for local examinations.
My reply to the three parts of the question raised by Hon Kenneth Chan is as follows:
(1) A breakdown of the number of international school places at primary and secondary levels by district on the basis of the demarcation of District Councils in the 2014/15 school year is at Annex 1. We do not have the projected corresponding figures in the 2015/16 school year. According to the projected figures from schools that have been allocated vacant school premises or sites through the School Allocation Exercise (SAE), the number of international school places at the primary and secondary levels is expected to increase by about 290 and 250 respectively in the 2015/16 school year. However, the actual number of school places available in the 2015/16 school year will be affected by various factors, including the actual demand for places in different schools, the usage of classrooms and the planned class size of schools, etc.
(2) According to the information provided by schools, a breakdown of the number of school places and students enrolled under the IB programme by district on the basis of the demarcation of District Councils and school type in the 2014/15 school year is at Annex 2. The relevant projected figures for the 2015/16 school year are not available as we do not have the number of school places and student intake for the IB programme offered by various schools for the year at the moment.
(3) Operating on a self-financing and market-driven basis in general, international schools may determine their programmes according to market needs. We commissioned a consultancy study in October 2014 mainly to update the overall position of international school places at primary and secondary levels in Hong Kong and better understand the nature of the demand in the next few years, including the ratio of local and non-local students. Hence, our consultancy study will not specifically assess the demand for and supply of the IB programme.
Subject to the findings of the consultancy study and the availability of vacant school premises and greenfield sites suitable for international school development, we will consider the need and timing for conducting a new round of SAE for international schools. Under the prevailing policy, international schools allocated with vacant school premises or sites under SAE are required to admit non-local students at no less than 70 per cent of their overall student population. We will also adjust the marking scheme as necessary. For example, school operators which undertake to admit non-local students at more than 80 per cent of their student population in the SAE application proposals will be given a higher mark.
Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:55
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