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CoP 18-5
| Admissions Policy and Procedure
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The Head of Student Support provided an update on the ESF admissions policy and procedure to members. Current prioritisations include applicants’:
- whose parent is an ESF teacher;
- whose sibling is an ESF student;
- who attended an ESF international kindergarten;
- whose parent is an ESF employee;
- whose parent is an alumnus/a; and then
- other applicants within each category.
The Corporate Surety Scheme allows companies to reserve a place for the child of an employee through making a payment equivalent to up to six months’ fees. This scheme applies only to children newly entering Hong Kong from overseas at the beginning of the school year.
Members asked how the decision was made as to whether a child was Category 1 or 2. The Head of Student Support said that this was done the basis of the statement about the language spoken at home made by the parent on the application form as there was no way to effectively test an applicant’s primary language. In light of press reports, members were concerned that false declarations were being made by parents during the application process, however it was argued that there was no evidence to prove so. If there was good reason to doubt a parent’s statement, follow-up action could be taken to revise a child’s category and this did sometimes happen.
It was suggested that the applicant’s parents should sign a document stating that all the information they provided was truthful. If it could be proved that there was false information provided, applicants would immediately be removed from the waiting list.
It was pointed out that Board members are aware of the controversy regarding the lack of spaces within ESF schools and that the application process would be reviewed during the subvention process. It would be for Board members to decide whether changes should be made to the policy, but it was the officials’ ambition to eventually remove the category system altogether.
Statistics on the number of students who were permanent residents versus non-permanent residents were provided. Permanent residents were defined as children with one parent in the family holding a permanent Hong Kong ID card. Across ESF schools, the numbers varied, but on average, 68% were permanent residents and 32% were non-permanent residents.
Private independent schools do not currently have a category system in place, but permanent resident status is considered during the application process. It was questioned as to whether ESF primary and secondary schools could consider the system used by the private independent schools, as an alternative to categorisation.
It was clarified that ESF’s ordinance states that it exists to educate children in the medium of English who can benefit from such an education, and does not discriminate based on ethnicity.
It was pointed out that the category system was in place to simplify the admissions policy and it was questioned whether the interview process could be enhanced in order to validate the information that was provided.
It was noted that the problem with enhancing the interview process is the logistics of time as the interview process is quite extensive and requires the participation of teachers which may remove them from the classroom.
Members agreed that the current admission policy and category system would need to be redefined as there were problems with the system’s validity and workability. It would be desirable to remove the categories. Members agreed that one solution would be to enhance the interview process.
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發表於 11-11-14 16:26