Housing, scholarship concerns test Hong Kong’s non-local student admission scheme
Educators welcome chance to enrol overseas students in semi-private schools under new initiative, but cite accommodation and funding issues
A semi-private school in Hong Kong has said accommodation arrangements and scholarships have to be addressed when admitting non-local students under a new government trial scheme.
Chan Wai-kai, principal of HKBUAS Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School in Sha Tin – one of the schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) – said the sector was generally positive about enrolling non-local students, following the government’s approval for them to do so in the coming academic year.
He said his school, which has admitted two pupils on student visas since its establishment two decades ago, would also apply to enrol non-local students.
Some of the applications received this year came from various places, including Dubai, he added.
Chan argued that one of the biggest challenges of the new initiative was accommodation.
“We are still thinking about the hostel arrangement, and we have not decided yet. As the whole process is a long way to go, we have to get approval from our school management committee, and we have to see if we have the resources to build,” he said.