RTHK 19/Feb 鏗鏘集 - 國際學校誰讀?

FattyDaddy

                    Can watch online at the following page:-
http://programme.rthk.org.hk/rthk/tv/programme.php?name=hkcc&d=2012-02-19&p=858&e=&m=episode

國際學校誰讀?                    
                                                           

近年，無論本地或非本地人士，對國際學校學額的需求，有不斷增加趨勢，影響到外來專才因子女敎育，而產生去留問題!

1998年，政府的駐校外籍英語老師計劃，吸引了一班來自不同國籍的老師來港敎學，增加了本地學童語文及接觸外國文化的機會。

今日，他們的子女，面對同本地學童競爭入讀國際學校學位；
究竟是學位不足？國際學校收生政策問題？抑或敎育政策的朝令夕改，導致本地家長為子女選擇國際學校，而令近年輪侯學位的情況變本加厲？

近年，不同商會亦關注到商界同時面對難於吸引專才留港發展，究竟
香港所謂國際化是否名符其實？

編導：鄺翠娟

                                       

annie40

回復 madscientist 的帖子

有个现象未知大家有否留意, IS 中学生大部分皮光肉滑, 好少有pimple.  无论几忙, 个样都永远精神和愉快.

baby8

I found foreign parents put their child in local kindergarten and primary school in order to learn Mandarin. (KCPS in North Point).  I don't think there is any problem for young child to learn two language at the same time.  We put our children in IS is that it can provide a better English environment for them to learn a second language.  If those foreign parents have already provided an English environment at home why refuse to put their children in  local Chinese environment ? Foreigners that can speak fluent Chinese in future has greater advantage than Chinese that can speak fluent English (simply supply/demand I think)

FattyDaddy

madscientist 發表於 12-2-26 04:11
The reason ESF created two PIS was that they did not get the funding ...

Once again you're right, ESF did not get the funding so if they create new schools they must be PIS, hence ESF had 2 choices:-

(1) Do nothing. Don't create new schools because PIS must be run differently and ESF is just not interested.

(2) Create new PIS schools and live with the troubles of maintaining 2 systems.

They opted for (2). Mind you, they were not forced into that choice, if they had no interest in serving the wider Cantonese speaking public they could have chosen (1) and did nothing.

You can of course say ESF chose (2) simply because they wanted expansion and money and the needs of Cantonese speaking Hongkongers never crossed their minds, I guess I don't have the same amount of skepticism {:1_1:}

FattyDaddy

madscientist 發表於 12-2-26 02:39
Why would ESF care about HK parents' wishes or their inclinations when their ESF schools are all overwhelmed by Cat 1s?

You're right, the regular ESF schools don't care and so they stick to their categorization system, but there is no reason why ESF should not want to cater for the wider Cantonese speaking public with their PIS schools {:1_1:}

Why create two systems.

Why not? Branding is very common in marketing, that's why we see Dolce&Gabanna and D&G, same company, different product lines targeting different customers.

FattyDaddy

madscientist 發表於 12-2-26 02:17
The 2 PIS schools are PIS because they have no chance of getting more funding from the government f ...

Hehe, I doubt if ESF's reasoning is as complicated as what you've described.

Allow me to quote your words ...

I am against Hong Kong parents shielding children from Cantonese simply because they want to be cat 1.  I think it does not make sense.

If I were ESF management and I want your business, wouldn't I remove the categorization (i.e. the "no Cantonese" restriction) in some schools to attract parents like you? {:1_1:}

FattyDaddy

madscientist 發表於 12-2-26 02:08
ESF does not need market research to conclude the importance of Chinese.  BTW, Chinese is not a co ...

Hahahaha, no, I don't think they need market research for something so obvious.

What I meant was they researched into what some Hongkong parents' inclinations are, e.g. some may not want to refrain from Cantonese etc.

FattyDaddy

josechan 發表於 12-2-26 01:10
Very true. I prefer paying effort to apply for IS with a good balance of Chinese and English, rather ...

That is why ESF created 2 PIS, Renaissance College and Discovery College, they have 4 selling points:-

(1) They don't categorize and prioritize students into Cat 1 and 2 so no need to refrain from Cantonese

(2) They don't have catchment areas so anyone living anywhere can apply

(3) Their curriculum have more Chinese contents than the regular ESF schools

(4) They still have the ESF brand name

I do think ESF is very clever, at least they have done some serious market research {:1_1:}

josechan

madscientist 發表於 12-2-25 12:17
ESF is only a number of schools in Hong Kong.  There are other ISes and DSS, etc.  Not qualifying f ...

Very true. I prefer paying effort to apply for IS with a good balance of Chinese and English, rather than forcing my kid into Cat 1.

highfive

I think the way ESF classifies applicants into the 2 categories isn't very accurate, at all. A couple of years ago our son were offered an interview and eventually offered a place (after being on the waitlist for a couple of months) even though that year the principal of CWBS (in our catchment zone) said that they were oversubscribed by CAT1 applicants, let alone CAT2's.

In our application we indicated that our son was most fluent with English, but we also clearly indicated that both parents spoke Cantonese and the child knew Cantonese too (though not very well). I suspect we were still being categorized as CAT1, hence the interview opportunity. We were definitely very happy for the opportunity but at the same time felt puzzled and kind of sorry for the "real" CAT1 applicants. In the end we didn't accept the offer though as our child was already studying at another IS when the offer was made.