English Schools Foundation

English Schools Foundation
英基學校協會
Address
25/F, 1063 King's Road, Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
District information
Established 1967 (1967)
Chief executive officer Belinda Greer
Chair of the board Carlson Tong
Schools 22
Students and staff
Students 17,565[1]
Teachers 1,251[1]
Other information
Website www.esf.edu.hk

The English Schools Foundation (Chinese: 英基學校協會, abbreviated: ESF or 英基) is an organisation that runs 22 educational institutions, most of which are international schools, in Hong Kong. It is the largest international educational foundation in Asia.[2][3] It was founded in 1967 with the passage of the English Schools Foundation Ordinance, under which it is mandated to provide "without regard to race or religion, a modern liberal education through the medium of the English language".[4]

The foundation receives an ongoing subvention from the Hong Kong Government. It is also funded through a tuition fee. In the 2013–2014 academic year, these fees stood at HK$90,000 per annum for primary school students and HK$101,400 per annum for Years 7-11 secondary school students (HK$106,300 for Years 12 and 13).

Although all of the ESF schools are comprehensive and "non-selective", students in the foundation have generally done well academically, with 90% of their graduates going to different universities around the world.

The schools have progressively improved their facilities, especially in ICT with the help of donations from Parent Teacher Associations.

The current chief executive of the English Schools Foundation is Belinda Greer.

Schools

Sha Tin College
King George V School

Schools that are part of ESF include:

Academics

Its schools have traditionally provided a curriculum based on the British curriculum, but the organisation is undergoing a transition to a more international curriculum from the International Baccalaureate, starting with changing the Year 12 and 13 programme from the British GCE A-Levels to the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme from September 2007.

The ESF has received its best mean IB Diploma score amongst its 909 students graduating in the class of 2015 in its history, at an 35.5 out of a possible 45. 14 of these students received a perfect score of 45, which fewer than 0.01% of IB Diploma students receive.[6] There were 160 perfect scorers in 2015 worldwide.[7]

Government subsidy debate

Unlike most other international schools in Hong Kong, schools run by the ESF receive an ongoing subsidy (called a 'subvention') from the Hong Kong Government. The reason for this is historical 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.

There has been some 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. There were also allegations that the foundation has misused funds on entertainment and over-extravagant recruitment procedures. A report criticising the ESF's use of funds was published by the Hong Kong Government in November 2002, resulting in a continuing debate about whether the subsidy should be cut or even suspended. The subvention was cut for several years in line with a general reduction in government expenditure and then frozen.

The ESF has recently addressed concerns about governance by putting forward a new Ordinance that will change the way the organisation operates. The foundation imposed a refundable capital levy of HK$25,000 per student in 2011.[8]

The changes culminate in the phasing out of government's annual subsidy (worth HK$283 million) with effect from 2016, tapering to zero in 2028-29.[8] After a comprehensive internal review of financing needs, the foundation decided to introduce one-off non-refundable levy starting in the 2015/16 school year. The will be set at HK$38,000 for first-year students for, with lesser amount for those joining higher age groups – HK$3,800 will be charged for Year 13 entrants. The ESF expects to raise an extra HK$50 million every year through the levy, for the replacement of schools.[8]

In 2014 government subvention comprised 17.7% of ESF's operating income. Tuition fees made up 74% while the balance was generated through interest income, renting out property, and other minor sources of income.[1]

Student demographics

The ethnic groups of the foundations' students include local residents of Hong Kong, Europeans and other nearby Asian countries. At the same time, most of their students have parents who are permanent residents of Hong Kong.

Ordinance

ESF was established by government ordinance in 1967. There were no amendments to the ordinance until 2008. Shortcomings in the governance of the organisation were highlighted by the Legislative Council Public Accounts Committee in January 2005.

The ESF carried out an extensive consultation process to produce an Amended Ordinance and Regulation, which provide for a number of changes to the governance and management of ESF. Some of these are in response to the shortcomings identified by the Public Accounts Committee. The most substantial changes are to the structure and composition of ESF's governing body and committees, including the creation of a new Board of Governors to replace the Foundation.

The new ordinance was approved by Legco in April 2008 and came into effect shortly afterwards.

Controversies

The ESF was involved in the controversial 2015 Hong Kong heavy metal in drinking water incidents.

Amid the scandal in September 2015, ESF tested the water in its schools, collecting over 300 samples. Four of the ESF schools were found to have a high amount of lead in their water supplies.[9] The news was announced through the ESF newsletter. It stated that one sample found in each of King George V School (Hong Kong), Sha Tin College, South Island School and West Island School was found to have a higher amount of lead than the government's guidelines, and that all the other schools had water that passed the inspection.

The newsletter did not specify where the source of the water containing high lead were in those schools. The individual schools have halted the use of those water sources pending an investigation.[10]

See also

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ESF Annual Report 2013-14" (PDF). Hong Kong: English Schools Foundation. 2014.
  2. ↑ "Customer Services Officer [The English Schools". Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  3. ↑ "Cardiff LiquidOffice Selected by English Schools Foundation to Automate Forms and Business Processes". Retrieved 2008-09-18.
  4. ↑ "The English Schools Foundation Ordinance" (PDF). Bilingual Laws Information System. Department of Justice. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
  5. ↑ "Our Schools [English Schools Foundation". Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  6. ↑ Westcott, Ben and Feng, Frank (July 8, 2015) http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1834341/perfect-scores-put-hong-kong-students-top-world [Perfect scores put Hong Kong students on top of the world] "South China Morning Post"
  7. ↑ ( July 6, 2015)http://www.ibo.org/news/news-list/141831-dp-graduates-celebrate-2015-exam-results/ [141,831 DP graduates celebrate 2015 exam results] "International Baccalaureate"
  8. 1 2 3 Lau, Kenneth (6 June 2014). "ESF to launch non-refundable levy". The Standard
  9. ↑ Cheung, Elizabeth (September 14, 2015). http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1858013/hong-kongs-english-schools-foundation-reports "Is your children's school affected? Four Hong Kong ESF schools have lead in water above recommended guidelines"]. South China Morning Post
  10. ↑ "ESF schools to raise Grade 1 tuition fees by 20% in 2016". Hong Kong Economic Journal. 22 September 2015.

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