Do your kids homeschool here? Or are you looking to have your kids homeschooled here?

hi, I find this topic very interesting as I am actually realising the admission nightmare in HK. I have 2 sons school-age but am finding nothing but 'waiting lists' for them....I don;t know whether to just wait for the ESF school I have applied for by sitting tight or apply to more by spending more money and getting into more waitlists!! I don;t know what the govt. is doing but this is serious problem in this country, I have already considered the possibility of home-tutoring my children till they get admission and any help in this field in terms of subject matter, etc would help immensely.
 
>> I'm not sure "exempt" is the correct word. I think "sometimes ignored" might be more accurate, or "rare exceptions allowed".

Always refer to legal statement instead of other sources, including person who work at EDB.
 
Hi Mushi,

you might want to consider government schooling options. There are several schools that offer education in English.

The Hong Kong education system, overseen by the Hong Kong Education Bureau, is divided into three types of schools: government schools, subsidized schools and private international schools. There are more than 1,100 schools in Hong Kong in total; as of 2010, more than 1,000 of them were local government schools. Primary and secondary education is mandatory for Hong Kong residents, but kindergarten is not.

Government schools are fully funded by the Hong Kong government and teach in Cantonese and English – though it is up to each school to determine how much of each language is used as the medium of instruction. Government schools are open and free for all children. There is a short application process in which students can select their top school choices, but assignments are generally made based on residency zones.

Guide to Hong Kong Schools and Education - Hong Kong - WSJ.com
Click to expand...


This Edu Bureau PDF has a lot of solid info in it, though its quite dense reading.

Not sure how old 'school age' is but this guv site will help determine an appropriate primary school.

ESF is competitive, but government schools are quality as well. There are added benefits for your children too (esf practically discourages children from learning Chinese [that is a personal opinion mind you])

Best of luck.
 
I don't think ESF discourage learning Chinese, but how to implement the teaching if you have different levels just within a grade level would be hard. And also to actually learn Chinese well just as well as English it is immersion. To learn Chinese well it is repeat and repeat in writing and listen. Unlike English alphabet. That is why in China they teach the children simplified Chinese writing and along side with pinyin. If they don't know how to write the character at least they can use alphabet to sound out what they want to write. I guess that is the sacrifice to simplify Chinese language and learn other subjects as well.
 
I think "discouraging" is a wrongly chosen word. Not their priority would better worded. It's a choice in the end based on demand. Over the years, I have met more and more "local" parents (often partially born and raised elsewhere but raising their children mostly in English) in the ESF system because they feel the local (Cantonese) education is too rigid. When you send your children to ESF, you know they'll get some Mandarin understanding and knowledge (they have 3 pathways and pathway 3 usually has native Mandarin speakers anyway), but no parents (I hope, at least not me) believe or expect it will be anything comparable to an immersion program or local school. That's the choice they made.
 
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