Review of ESF Subvention

To:   All Parents of ESF Schools 
CC:  All Parents of Private Independent Schools and Kindergartens (for information only) 

Dear Parent,

Review of ESF Subvention

I am writing, on behalf of the Board, to update you on progress with the review of the ESF subvention since my last letter at the start of this term.  Our Chairman, Carlson Tong, other members of the Board and I have met with senior officials from the Education Bureau on three occasions.  During our most recent meeting with EDB, it was explained to us that so far as the government is concerned, there are three over-riding principles in the review of ESF subvention:

• To establish a system which is fair to all schools, Government, aided or Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, Private Independent Schools and Private International schools and rationalise any “legacy issues” caused by the ESF subvention;
   
• To be sensitive to the fact that parents, whose children are already students of ESF schools, made their application on the basis of existing policy on the subvention; 
   
• To rationalise and to justify any future recurrent subvention to ESF.

The Board has been at pains to impress upon EDB and legislators that government subvention is not a privilege of ESF but a form of universally recognised Government support for education, in particular for those parents who are long-term residents of Hong Kong.  

It is important to note that, if subvention were reduced, ESF would be forced to bridge any funding gap by either raising income including school fees or cutting costs. 

At the request of the LegCo Education Panel during the July meeting and of the Education Bureau, the Board has prepared a second Position Paper stating our case for the retention (and indeed increase) of the subvention.  I want to summarise the main points for you :

• ESF is unique among non-local schools in Hong Kong in having its existence enshrined in an Ordinance, only recently (2008) revised by LegCo.

• English is one of the two official languages of Hong Kong and ESF’s object is to offer a modern liberal education through the medium of English to boys and girls who are able to benefit from such an education.

• The Board believes that ESF students whose parents have made Hong Kong their home are entitled to government subvention at the same level as that being enjoyed by students in the local school system.

• The freezing of the subvention since 2000 has reduced its value to the point where DSS primary school students receive 98% more subvention than ESF primary students and DSS secondary school students 85% more.  The only way for ESF to maintain its high-quality education has been to make up the difference by raising fees in recent years.

• The Board has stated that it is willing to continue acting as the agent of government in the delivery of English-medium education and to accept a Service Agreement provided it has the means to protect the quality and standards of education for its students.

• The Board is committed to continuing to educate the children of people who have made Hong Kong their home and the children of in-coming business people who have difficulty adjusting to the local school system.  ESF will review its admissions policy to make it as fair and transparent as possible.

• ESF offers a unique curriculum which is a fusion of the international (Primary Years Programme, International Baccalaureate Diploma) and the English (the middle secondary years).  It is the only group of schools in Hong Kong which offers GCSE, IB Diploma and Business and Technician Education Council qualifications, together with awards for children with special educational needs.  ESF’s niche is to play a role between the international and the local sector, offering a liberal, international education which prepares students well for higher education in any English-speaking institution (and increasingly in Chinese-speaking institutions) in the world.

• ESF is the only English-medium group of schools with integrated special educational needs services, including the Jockey Club Sarah Roe School for children with severe learning difficulties, the Learning Support Classes in main-stream schools and our new ESF Therapy Centre.

• ESF urgently needs the government’s assurance of continued assistance with capital funding to finance the renovation and/or replacement of its ageing school building portfolio such as the replacement of Island School, which is likely to cost at least HK$800 million and which cannot be funded by ESF alone.

• The Board is willing to accept an appropriate level of monitoring and accountability to the government but must retain control of the curriculum and the remuneration, recruitment and professional development of staff.

We will continue our discussions with EDB over the coming months and press the ESF case for a sustainable and recurrent subvention.  We expect that there will be a further report to the LegCo Education Panel in the next few months.  We will keep you informed of the progress of our on-going discussions with EDB and seek your help to lobby Government and LegCo members at the appropriate time.