Hong Kong’s education authorities are being urged to implement regulations for private and international schools that align with those governing their subsidised counterparts, following the city leader’s plans to enhance oversight of these institutions.
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While stricter regulations would help prevent irregularities in private schools, lawmakers also emphasised the importance of proactive monitoring and timely intervention should problems arise.
In his policy address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced that the authorities would formulate a “code of practice for private schools” and publish a list of compliant institutions. This code would also apply to international schools.
Education sector lawmaker Chu Kwok-keung accused the government of being too lenient with private schools, some of which had run into financial and management problems. He said he believed that the introduction of the code would improve the situation.
“After formulating the code, authorities should refine their supervision mechanisms and identify schools with financial and managerial risks early, so that the government can intervene in time,” he said.
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Although the details of the code are yet to be announced, Chu suggested that it should require private and international schools to regularly disclose their finances and adhere to a self-evaluation checklist, practices applied to institutions under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS).