The wave of dropouts caused by the immigration wave has not stopped.
The chairman of the DSS School Council, Chen Di'an, stated that the entire Hong Kong academic community is facing the impact of dropouts. For DSS schools, the number of students has decreased in addition to the decline in tuition income, and the amount of government subsidy has also decreased. The new school year begins early next year, and it is expected that more Hong Kong students will drop out of school and leave Hong Kong.
According to the government’s practice of counting DSS heads twice a year, if DSS schools fail to admit the same number of transfer students by the end of March, their income will decrease again.
St. Paul’s School, Causeway Bay, a prestigious direct-funded school that has not increased tuition in the past ten years, issued a notice to parents a few days ago, revealing that the school expects a deficit of more than 1.5 million yuan this school year. Ask parents whether they agree to increase tuition in the coming year, or do not increase tuition but need Reduce the competitiveness of schools to maintain high-quality education.
St. Paul’s school has not been able to make up for the lost students, and the school expects a deficit of more than 1.5 million yuan this school year.
(Online picture)
St. Paul’s School proposes to increase the fee by 10% in the next school year and freeze the fee for 5 years
St. Paul’s school has maintained its tuition level at RMB 25,000 per year for junior high school for the past ten years and RMB 27,500 for high school.
The school issued a notice a few days ago, revealing that the school is expected to have a deficit of more than 1.5 million yuan this school year, and it is expected to continue to lose money, so it provides three options for parents to choose from, including all students plus 10% tuition from the next school year, and freezing prices for the next 5 years; Or the whole school will increase tuition by at least 6% every year; the third plan does not increase tuition, but it will reduce the school’s competitiveness in maintaining high-quality education.
"Hong Kong 01" contacted the school to understand, and a reply is still pending.
Checking the latest financial report of St. Paul's School, in the 2019/20 school year, 75% of the school's income was government subsidies, and tuition fees accounted for about 24% of the income. Among them, 82% was staff salaries, and the school reserves about 6.77 months of operating expenses.
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The wave of immigrants has set off a wave of dropouts, and the Hong Kong International Airport has seen farewell scenes from time to time.
(Information Picture/Photographed by Zhang Haowei)
Chen Di'an: At least 70% of the income of direct-subsidized schools comes from government-sponsored students, reducing their income
The Chairman of the DSS School Council and Dean of DSS Schools Chen Di'an said that he does not comment on the situation of individual schools, but the whole Hong Kong academic community is facing the impact of dropouts, and it is expected that as the new school year in the southern hemisphere such as Australia and New Zealand starts in early 2022, there will be more The Hong Kong Student Union dropped out.
He explained that the main source of income for DSS schools is government subsidy, which ranges from about 70% to 90%. Therefore, if the number of students decreases, both the tuition income and government subsidy of DSS schools will decrease. It is not surprising that there will be financial pressure. : "One of the reasons why students go to the department to increase tuition."
The Education Bureau counts the number of people twice a year, at the end of September and the end of March, and then grants subsidies. If students drop out during the period, the subsidy will be reduced per capita.
Chan Di'an, Chairman of DSS School Council
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Chen Di’an explained that the amount of government subsidy provided to DSS schools is determined by referring to the total expenditure of subsidized schools excluding the number of students. However, under the epidemic, most subsidized schools have suspended activities and expenditures have decreased. "Students lose thousands of mosquitoes every year", and as Australia and New Zealand and other southern hemisphere regions start the new school year at the beginning of the year, it is expected that more students will leave Hong Kong, and the income of DSS schools may further decrease. The re-entry policy will leave in January and Yijia will leave immediately."
Chen Dian, Chairman of the Hong Kong DSS School Council.
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Chen Di'an believes that most DSS schools in Hong Kong have "experienced many battles." If only short-term financial difficulties can be met with reserves, I believe that schools that intend to increase tuition fees will only make a decision after measuring their original financial reserves and assessing their long-term financial situation. Sufficient reasons and justifications must be provided for this fee increase before it can be approved by the government. He believes that there will be no excessive increase.
38% of DSS schools have been approved for fare increases this school year
According to data from the Education Bureau, there are currently about 71 DSS schools in Hong Kong, of which 38% (27) have been approved by the government to increase their fees this school year. Most DSS schools’ tuition increases are not higher than 2.5%, and only 6 schools have a range of increases. 2.51% to 10%.
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