Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School

Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School Chinese: 蘇浙小學
整齊嚴肅
Location
30, Ching Wah Street, North Point Hong Kong
Information
Type	nonprofit, kindergarten, primary, international
Established	1953
School district	North Point
Principal	Wong Po-ming, J.P.
Grades	N1 – P6
Affiliation	Kiangsu and Chekiang Residents' Association Kiangsu–Chekiang College
Website	http://www.kcs.edu.hk/

Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School (also called as KCPS) is a co-educational primary school in North Point, Hong Kong^[1] founded in 1953 by the Kiangsu and Chekiang Residents' Association of Hong Kong.^[2] It was the first school in Hong Kong to teach primarily in Mandarin Chinese, and for many years continued to be the only school to do so.^[2][3]

The school has a nursery and kindergarten section, and children are admitted from their second birthday, into the nursery class.

History

Founder of this school was Sun Fong Chung Jeannie (孫方中). The school project was initiated by the Kiangsu and Chekiang Residents' Association of Hong Kong in 1949. Donations of HK$256,722 were raised to build a school on a 2,200-square-foot (200 m²) plot of land on North Point Road donated by its Vice Chairman.^[4] In 1953, Sun Fong Chung Jeannie (孫方中), aged 25 and without any experience as educator, was appointed the founding principal of the school. She boldly pioneered use of Mandarin as the medium of instruction, because she strongly believed it could cultivate a sense of belonging to the country, but also improve students Chinese language skills. Another revolutionary idea of hers at the time was to employ native English speakers to teach English. In the political environment prevailing at the time, the revolutionary idea of teaching in Mandarin resulted in being branded "left-leaning".^[5] Sun served as the school's principal for 48 years.^[6] The school has taught principally using Mandarin since its inauguration,^[7] which is exceptionally rare in Hong Kong no matter during its early years or currently.

The KCRA applied to the Government for land for the school's expansion, and was allocated 91,000-square-foot (8,500 m²) 30 Ching Wah Street,^[4][8] the school's present location (known at the time as the "South campus"). Construction work started on in January 1956 after, and the school moved into its new premises on 1958. The first stone of the foundation was laid by Hong Kong Governor Sir Robert Brown Black on 26 February 1958, and the school was ready for the new intake in August of the same year; the North Point Road site became known as the "North campus" thereafter.^[4]

The international section of the school opened in 1993. Now there is a Secondary School Kiangsu-Chekiang College International Section.

Alumni

• Raymond Or
• Raymond Lam
• Liza Wang
• Simon Peh
• Desmond Lau Kin Hei

References

1. Eastern. School list of 18 districts. Committee on Home School Cooperation
2. 蘇浙小學一班兩個英文科老師 [KCS–two English teachers to each class]. Headline Daily (Chinese). Archived from the original on 5 January 2012
3. 學前機構質素評核報告 [pre-school organisation quality appraisal report] pg 2, Education Bureau Hong Kong, December 2008
4. 蘇浙簡史 [KCS History]. Kiangsu and Chekiang Primary School (Chinese)
5. 普通話教學先驅 孫方中: 政府還要研究多久? [Sun: How much longer does the government need to research?]. Ming Pao. 13 November 2007 (third party link) (Chinese)
6. 香港太平紳士孫方中女士回母校無錫一女中探望師生. 無錫教育網 (in Chinese).
7. 蘇浙貫徹普通話教學 中外學生我手寫我口 [KCS teaching in Mandarin – students write exactly as they speak] Ming Pao
8. 蘇浙小學（全日）[Kiangsu & Chekiang Primary School (W.D.)] (Chinese)

Coordinates: 22°17′21″N 114°11′55″E / 22.28921°N 114.19854°E