Essay

International school trend, good or bad?

Recently, the Education Department has introduced many changes to primary and secondary schools. As a result, there are many parents who have applied for their children to attend international schools. However, this trend is not beneficial to students, parents and society.

Firstly, fewer and fewer students will have the opportunities to go to elite schools, which charge students with high school fees, as a consequence of the changed policy. The Education Department allowed these kinds of schools to change to ‘direct subsidy’. That means these schools can make their own decision to take or select students, and also the school fees. Thus, only good students with a rich background may be admitted to the elite schools. It makes the students who are poor more upset as they have fewer chances to go to elite schools. They could only go to those normal schools even they have a remarkable academic achievement.

Secondly, the changes in the education also put on parents more pressures. All parents in Hong Kong want their children to go to an elite school, as it seems, to many people, to have a better future. However, as all the primary school six students are considered the same group of students who sit for the examination for secondary. The boys will have few chances to go to the schools which are their first choice since it is said that the girls are more likely to have a better result than the boys because of their puberty, which comes earlier than boys. This is why parents send their children to international schools. If the trend goes on, it will make more and more students go to international schools, and the normal schools will have fewer and fewer students. Even so, it may not be good news for the students who go to international schools, because international schools are usually profit making. They charge customers (parents) more when they think customers need them a lot. The parents would be more painful when they have to pay a lot more for the children’s school fees. Some may not know how expensive the school fees are in an international school. It may be as high as $6,000 for a month, which is a monthly income for most of the families in Hong Kong. As the economy in Hong Kong is in its downturn, how can a mid-class family afford their children to go to the schools like these?

Thirdly, there will be more problems in society if the trend keeps going. Foreigners will think that it must be problems of the education in Hong Kong that make so many parent worry about their children and send them all to international schools. As a result, a degrading Hong Kong image is a must. On the other hand, as most international schools are profit making, profit must come first when they consider whether admit a student or not. It is very clear that they would admit the students who are wealthier. It may give a wrong concept to the students that no matter how lazy they are and how poor their academic performance is; they are able to go to international schools, which people regard as good schools.

It is just a small part of the negative effects to the students, the parents and society. However, just a small part of these can destroy the activities in society as well as the economy.