For the first time in four years, requests to raise tuition fees at several private and international schools in Hong Kong have been rejected.
The Education Bureau has also capped increases by other schools at 20%. This applies to a majority of direct subsidy scheme (DSS) schools that were given approval to adjust their fees for the 2018/19 school year.
A total of six schools – three private and three international – were denied requests. The last time schools faced a similar predicament was for the 2014/15 school year.
The new strict stance comes after a government watchdog raised public concern about a lax approval process. The body claimed it allowed schools to raise fees “easily” year after year. Investigations into the issue are still ongoing.
“Despite receiving criticism for such a long period, the bureau did not reject any applications the past few years,” said education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen.
He said the bureau’s decision to reject the six schools gave the public perception that it was reacting to the investigation.
He added that fee increases are reasonable as long as they are justifiable. Schools can get approval for their applications if they were planning to improve staff-to-student ratio or have repair works, for instance.
The issue with the approval system for raising fees was the lack of transparency in the process. Ip explained that the government needed to explain more clearly the approval criteria.
A bureau spokesperson told the South China Morning Post that a process is in place.
“In approving the application for adjustment of tuition fees by DSS schools, the bureau will carefully review the financial budget submitted by the school, the rationale for the adjustment, and confirm that the school has consulted the parents,” the spokesperson said.
In the latest round of increases, the average fee increments were 5.94% for DSS schools, 5.71% for private and 4.67% for international schools.
For private schools, 61 increased fees by 10 per cent or below, while two raised them by between 10.1% and 20%.
In terms of international schools, all fees were kept to the maximum of 10 per cent. For example, the primary section of Chinese International School increased fees by 6.4% to HK$205,500 this year.