English Schools Foundation - Books - Famous Chinese Shopping City

March 8, 2014


		1 Introduction 2 Government subsidy debate 3 List of schools run by the foundation 4 See also 5 External links 6 Notes

Famous Chinese Shopping City Books

English Schools Foundation

Wikipedia

Infobox_Company |
company_name = English Schools Foundation ?????????????????? |
company_logo = Image:English_Schools_Foundation_Logo.gif |
company_type = Non-profit organisation |
foundation = 1967 |
location = Hong Kong |
key_people = Heather Du Quensnayhttp://www.esf.edu.hk/foundation.html |
industry = Education |
products = #List of schools run by the foundation|See list of schools |
revenue = Not applicable |
homepage = http://www.esf.edu.hk/ www.esf.edu.hk

The English Schools Foundation ?????????????????? (ESF, ??????) is the largest international educational foundation in Asia, and is well respected in Hong Kong and across the world. The ESF is a non-profit organisation; and runs over 20 educational institutions across Hong Kong. It was founded in 1967 as a direct result of a Ordinance that started the foundation to provide a "modern liberal education" for expatriates in Hong Kong. Today, the majority of students are local Hongkongers although there is a sizable expatriate community, with students coming from over 55 different nationalities. The schools currently provides a curriculum based on the English system, but it is undergoing a transition in its Year 12 and 13 programme from the British A-level|GCE A-Levels to the International Baccalaureate|International Baccalaureate Diploma.

The foundation runs on a grant given from the Hong Kong Government as well as a substantial tuition fee charged to parents. Currently, these fees stand at HK$ 78,600 for secondary schools|secondary school students and HK$ 47,300 for primary schools|primary school students, per annum. Although all of the ESF schools are comprehensive and non-selective, students in the foundation have traditionally done well academically, with students graduating from the secondary schools going to top universities around the world.

Many, however, have criticised the foundation's apparent unwillingness to spend large sums of money on facilities in schools. Although the schools have progressively improved their facilities, especially in ICT, many of these were funded by the parents through the PTA rather than by the foundation.

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Government subsidy debate

Unlike most other international schools in Hong Kong, schools run by the ESF are subsidised substantially by the Hong Kong Government. The reason for this is historic and lies in the foundation's statutory basis. Until recently, it was generally accepted that this subsidy was fair and that the foundation had a reason to be subsidised.

More recently events have stirred up controversy regarding subsidies to the foundation. The fiscal deficit suffered by the Hong Kong Government following the Asian Financial Crisis forced the government to cut costs. The revelation that the foundation has misused funds has also caused concern; for example, recruitment procedures were seen by some as being too extravagant and too much money was spent on entertainment costs. A report criticising the ESF's use of funds was published by the Hong Kong Government in November 2004, resulting in continuing debates as to whether the subsidy should be cut or even suspended.

Those for a cut or suspension to the subsidy argue that as other international schools are not subsidised, the ESF should not be subsidised either. Furthermore, it is argued, perhaps unfairly, that parents of students in ESF schools do not need a government subsidy to send their children to school. The misuse of funds by the ESF has also caused many to question whether the public's money is being used correctly.

Conversely, those in favour of keeping the subsidy argue that students of ESF schools should be allowed the same subsidy that is provided to students of schools following the local curriculum. Another argument is that fees would inevitably rise following a cut in the subsidy, meaning that parents are forced to choose between expensive non-subsidised international schools or the local curriculum, removing this third choice of the ESF system. This would also present problems for students that have been in the ESF system; if they could not afford the higher fees, they would be left with no education. While the government also operates the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) to provide funding to schools which operate more independently than typical local schools, most DSS schools were formerly top-tier local schools and continue to offer the local curriculum.

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List of schools run by the foundation

There are currently 20 schools that are run by the foundation. These are:

Primary Schools (5-11)

Bauhinia School http://www.bauhinia.edu.hk/

Beacon Hill School (ESF) http://www.beaconhill.edu.hk/

Bradbury School http://www.bradbury.edu.hk/

Clearwater Bay School http://www.cwbs.edu.hk/

Glenealy School http://www.glenealy.edu.hk/

Kennedy School (ESF) http://www.kennedy.edu.hk/

Kowloon Junior School Perth Street http://perth.kjs.edu.hk and Rose Street http://rose.kjs.edu.hk

Peak School http://www.ps.edu.hk/

Quarry Bay School http://www.qbs.edu.hk /

Sha Tin Junior School http://www.sjs.edu.hk/

Secondary Schools (11-18)

Island School http://www.island.edu.hk/

King George V School http://www.kgv.edu.hk/

Sha Tin College http://www.shatincollege.edu.hk/

South Island School http://www.sis.edu.hk/

West Island School http://www.wis.edu.hk/

Special Needs (5-19)

Jockey Club Sarah Roe School http://www.jcsrs.edu.hk/

All-in-one Schools (5-18)

Phoenix International School http://www.phoenix.edu.hk/

Kindergartens:ref|ESFESL

Abacus International Kindergarten

Sheung Wan

Tsing Yi

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