Education in Hong Kong - Frequently asked Questions

[saundra]

I know that if you are in a P6 in a school such as LFIS, you have almost automatic entry into the secondary (providing you meet their minimum education standards). Not sure about ESF schools.

Speaking to locals, they say that it is very difficult for the students to move between the local and international systems, primarily due to the completely different methods of teaching.

 

[Joyce]

If you go to an ESF primary school, then you should have a place at an ESF secondary school.

Different international schools have different criteria though if your international school teaches in the English medium, for example, then your child should most definitely have proficiency in English. Best to contact each school directly about it's admissions policy. It is true that some children who have had most of their primary schooling in a local school may find it difficult to adjust to an international school learning environment in the latter primary years.

I think if you intend to send your child to an international school, it would be best to put their name down sooner rather than later as most of these schools have long waiting lists.

 

[Rachelle]

Zoning

Does anyone know if International Schools follow the zoning policy of the local schools?

I live in Sai Ying Pun and there are no International Schools here.

 

[svasbt]

rani:

I hope it's not too late for you to ask this question.

What do they think about non-Chinese speaker enrolling in a local school? Are they prepared to help them, or they'd rather discourage them form being there?

Thanks so much.

 

[rani]

Miggy - I believe only ESF has a zoning stucuture. Here's a map

http://www.esf.edu.hk/schools.html

 

[rani]

svasbt good question.

We've been looking at schools for D as well. As we're here for the long haul we're considering local schools. We went to have a look at one of the bi-lingual kindergartens in the area.

A couple of things that caught our attention -

1. None of the notices on the boards were in English.

2. The woman that gave us the tour was struggling to speak in English. We asked if there was a liaison in the school for non-Chinese parents. Unfortunately there isn't, so communicating with the teachers may be a challenge.

On a positive note, D is definitely going to pick up Cantonese/Mandarin in that environment.

Another friend of ours has her son in a local kindergarten and they make an effort to send circulars in English and Cantonese. However, grammatical mistakes and misused phrases have led them to send their son to school on holidays.

 

[Exalted Shrimp]

On the matter of local schools...

My children attend a local school in the Shatin area. I refer to it as writing school! When they start primary 1 they will need to be able to read and speak cantonese. My daughter spoke quite a bit and had only 1 year of writing chinese characters behind her. She is still behind her classmates in Primary 2. She can't read all of the characters in her assignments or tests, which means she can't understand the questions.

Another thing to consider is the way the children are disiplined in the local schools. Humiliation is a common technique!:barf:

 

[Swoon]

GSIS & Canadian International

Is GSIS really as good as all the hype about it suggests ("top International school"...) or is it overrated?

Also, do any parents have comments about Canadian International (in Aberdeen)? The brochures show only photos of Chinese kids.