Some examples
Fees divided by 12 not 10 as some school pay schedules are.

Aussie school

Fees $97500 per year (to which you will pay $24375 per year plus tax) (75% sub)
Yearly Levy $13500 (no subsidy, non-refundable)
Bus from lantau area $3000 per month ($36000 per year NO subsidy)

Total $6156.25 per child per month plus the tax of your fees

ESF primaries except Renaissance and Discovery collage as they have higher fees. (The preferred road by many due to the cost)

Fees $63000 per year (to which you pay $6300.00 plus tax per year) (90% sub)
Bus from lantau to KJS for an example $1400.00 per month (16800 per year No subsidy)

Total $1925.00 per month plus the tax of your fees
plus
Refundable capital levy of $25000 one off

Harrow

Fees $125000 per year (to which you pay $31250 per year plus tax) (75% sub)
Yearly Levy $50000 (no subsidy, non-refundable)
Bus from Lantau $1400 per month (16800 per year No subsidy)

Total $8170.00 per month plus the tax of your fees


Now here are more points

Point 1-

The current CX education allowance could be reviewed because of the following
Getting an interview at a 90 per cent subsidized school is very difficult (The preferred road by many due to the cost)

Some more examples
800 applications at Renaissance College for 160 spots
All ESF primary 1 combined not including Renaissance or Discovery - 2300 applications for 1020 spots for 2012

Point 2-

The following would be fair to many but probably not those already in the ESF and as turnandburn pointed out they will be the ones who get there subsidy decreased, should the company reduce the 90 percent.

Make the subsidy the same across the board
Include the yearly levies as a fee

To quote you turnandburn “You may open a can of worms and get offered less in the long term. Everything I have seen from them in the past has reduced benefits over time. An example change the system to cover all schools but only 80%”

You could just tell us all what school system your kids are in and then give us an account of what you did to get there, one application or did you apply to many, did you educate them in the right pre-school perhaps?, maybe give us all some insightful knowledge.

Point 3 –

In this current climate, education is one of the most stress full components to living in Hong Kong for families and the CX education allowance was negotiated many years ago. (If you know when I would like to know)

However TIMES HAVE CHANGED

Iron Skillet - I would like to quote you on another part of the forum
“the AOA takes years to send a rarely-effective email about anything”

This gets to my 4th point – I have had a pm from an AOA GC asking me to submit our research, which I want to do.
The AOA have other issues to deal with and like the PM said any research we have done is greatly appreciated. I am curious have you got off your A… and assisted the AOA with ideas about their ineffective emailing or do you just pay your fees and then get pissed off when it does not go your way.

I think I have already used this phase - getting further evidence of others in the same situation is what I am aiming to achieve, this is quite useful when something is challenged such as education, your housing, taxes All of these are benefits of your contract but sometimes a review can make the difference and to many an education review maybe needed.

I agree with you regarding the bus,

We have 2 kids we could do with the ESF break or the levies included in the fees.

School is free in many other countries.
There may be pay options, but the general
Population gets a free education up to University.
99% of those entering Harvard, Queens or other
Ivy league schools went to free public education.


Simply another example of the stupidity that
Hong Kong is. Eveyone just buys in..

You probably can't have 15% tax AND free schools..

There is a 30 BILLION dollar budgetary surplus in Hong Kong..

I think they can kick in a few bucks to schools.

//////////

schools
 

Bottom line here in HKG for private schooling, whether it be Hong Lok Yuen, ESF, the various International schools et al...is this; places are incredibly limited even if you have popped your child on the from birth waiting list. It is also corrupt in two ways. Firstly, fat debentures will produce results and secondly, nepotism from Head Teachers is rife. Selective and vigorous entrance assessments from P1 up is the norm and proximity to those who are key in that system will generally produce dividend. Even if the result is positive, there is little assurance that the child will "fit". In other systems, flexible schooling will normally allow movement between schools to allow a better "fit". Sadly, in HKG, because of the acute shortage of places below year 5, little school transition occurs. I am told there are now over 1700 families, not kids..families..home educating in HKG right now. That is nothing short of disgraceful and may be the reason Coke decided to move their Asia HQ to SIN...who else will follow?

schools
 

Local schools, eg Saikung Primary, where they teach in both Cantonese and English medium are a good bet at present. They are looking to develop a multinational stream to complement the NETs. However, they will also interview and assess but with less constraint than the private sector. For P1 to P4, this can be a good start for a child to integrate into the HKG system with Cantonese fluency resulting fairly fast. That said, the ESF tend to put kids who go into the public system back to the end of the Q, (they will refute this though if formally consulted).
Various private schools are currently offering scholarships but these are highly competitive and do not cover years 1 to 4. HKG is very debenture biased and will react well to the larger debenture offering. Don't neglect the established local high end schools, St Pauls Boys Catholic School and St Margerets as an example.

Western Schooling in HKG
 

It IS very, very competitive and not clear-cut, wait-list based. You may not get a place at all. fullstop.

Nor does there seem to be particular, (or any) loyalty to same nationalities, although I understand the French side of FIS is compelled to offer French nationals a place, not so in the International stream. Nor at other branded schools, Canadian, Australian etc.. they don't care, it's a business, show them the really big money or lump it.

This is a major, major bugbear for newcomers to HK. Do not underestimate the stress it can cause. Been there, we did not enjoy it at all ! :ouch:

The suggested number of people home-schooling is quite realistic, quantifiable and a disgrace for such a financially successful country. But it IS reality.

Shame about the basings scenario heh....

several fixes are needed. :ugh: good luck kiwi etal

Thats a great question does anyone know?

Nope....sadly...

Home schooling is actually illegal in HK from what i understand, although plenty still do it.

CATHAY BOARDING SCHOOL ALLOWANCE
 

CATHAY BOARDING SCHOOL ALLOWANCE

Does anyone know the current policy in relation to overseas boarding (I'm HK resident ) and the education allowance for Cathay? I've been told that in order to obtain the boarding allowance the child must board 7 days per week - with no leave for the child outside school grounds REALLY?

If you really are employed by Cathay go to the benefits centre or look online, don't ask on here!:ugh:

Cost of raising children
 

Whilst I sympathize with those parents trying to find places for their children at schools in HK. As iron skillet stated, having children is a personal choice, placing the burden of educating those children on the taxpayers is a misnomer fostered by western governments . which is why HK schools are so expensive, the HK government feels no special need to make provision for the expat kids above local schools and this is a sensitive issue right now.So I do not expect a resolution to this problem any time soon
If you want to have children that is your right as it should be, but it is also then your responsibility to pay for their education medical etc. and should not be the burden on the general taxpayer who may not have or want children.
It is time to move away from the theory that it takes a village to raise a child and move to personal responsibility based system
If enough pilots leave CX because they cannot get their kids in school Cathay will soon enough address the problem but until that happens I'm afraid that it looks like you are all on your own .
Please don't bother flaming me I'm not looking for a fight and I do sympathize with your plight it's very frustrating but I also see iron skillets point of view

Just like having a car is a choice. You should not burden the general taxpayer who may not have or want a car with the cost of roads, bridges and tunnels. I have a boat.

This problem is a world wide one that's just getting worse as the current world population reaches 7 Billion.

certain Ethnic groups need to slow down reproduction .

Iron Skillet , whats your solution ?

Paying your own way?
 

joblow, quote:- "If you want to have children that is your right as it should be, but it is also then your responsibility to pay for their education medical etc. and should not be the burden on the general taxpayer who may not have or want children."

What if the parents of said children are taxpayers?

Doesn't that mean they are paying their way and not part of any burden on their fellow taxpayers?

As you say, "if you want to have children that is your right", just as it is if you do not want children.

I believe that a tax payer has a reasonable right to expect something for his money.

The question really is, what responsibility should the employer have over one's children. None, but nice if you can get something!

Smoking is a choice. Thousands of people every year receive medical treatment for smoking-related diseases. I'm a tax payer and I don't smoke; should have to pay for the treatment that smokers receive?

Going back to ravenjewel's question, I agree with iceman.

STP

Taxes
 

To answer the query from FERetd, parents with children get a break on taxes because they have kids, so no they aren't paying their way enrirely, there is going to be a subsidy to some extent from the general tax pool .If you want a fairer system then those who choose to have children should pay a higher tax :{rate than those with no children, after all they use more of the worlds resources

In Canada and the USA a large proportion of the property taxes are used for education, how does that benefit a single person or childless couple who have no need of the schooling system ?
If the employer pays for education great I'm all for it but then a pilot with 3 or 4 children will earn substantially more than a single person by the time education allowance is added to the package for doing the same job

Again I'm not trying to start an argument or hijack the thread. Education is not a choice it's an essential so good luck to all of you struggling to find school places for your children I hope it works out