Educa
s a risky business
S
Increasing costs compel Hong Kong's private schools either to raise their fees or close down in
the absence of a bold policy toward free, compulsory education
It is fall. It is the season when satchels return to school and parents worry about the rising cost of education. But, like everything else in free-enterprise Hong Kong, education is a business. The yellow pages of its telephone directory list over 1,000 private schools and col- leges. Whether they remain listed de- pends on whether they make money. Last year, 90 schools folded up. This year, 40 so far. A major casualty was the well-known Ling Ying College, founded 32 years ago. It survived a world war, but it simply could not absorb the excessive hikes in rents and wages. Evidently, when the cash register takes over, altruism ends.
And the cash register is a force to reckon with. Last month, 73 schools in- creased their fees, all but two of them private. A month earlier, the government allowed eight English schools to raise their fees by 25% to 50%. The increases stay, while school managements are frankly dismayed by the letters of angry
parents that regularly flood newspaper columns.
The system. There are three types of school in Hong Kong schools run by the government, schools run by private and voluntary bodies with government aid, and schools wholly promoted and run by private bodies and individuals. The majority are in the last category. By and large, they operate in premises not built or designed for schools. In each of the three types there are three levels of education
kindergartens, primary
schools and secondary schools. The majority of the 800 odd kindergartens are privately run and receive no govern- ment assistance. A limited number are managed by voluntary organizations paying nominal rents in government premises. Their total enrolment exceeds 134,000 and without exception almost all pay fees.
Primary education, the mainstay of most children, is offered by some 1,600 schools 107 government, 634 govern-
ment aided and 861 private. In the first two categories, fees are remitted up to 20% in the case of deserving students. Some of the aided schools charge a subscription above the standard fees to defray building and equipment costs. Private schools charge considerably more. Many operate two shifts. The total primary school enrolment is close to 750,000.
Secondary education is far less ac- cessible and far more expensive. Admis- sion depends on both financial status and severe entrance tests. Private second- ary schools charge anywhere from US$50 to US$200 a year, government schools from US$67 to US$75. The eight English schools recently raised their fees to between US$100 and US$250. Aided schools charge between US$53 and US$75, as also a subscription ranging from US$4 to US$40 a year. Together, there are 474 secondary schools (384 of them private) with a total enrolment of over quarter-million. In 1968-69, the
The Ling Ying College, unable to absorb increased costs, closed down this year.
Asian Industry
47
October 1970