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The problem of some kindergartens charging excessively high application fees has prompted an official investigation by the Ombudsman after the Education Bureau gave around 40 schools the green light for such charges last year.
Ombudsman Connie Lau Yin-hing said she was “very concerned” about the effectiveness of the bureau’s monitoring of the issue, as it had allowed the kindergartens to ask for more than the HK$40 ceiling set by the government. It’s not clear why the schools are charging much higher fees, or on what criteria the bureau has approved such cases.
After the investigation was announced on Thursday, the bureau said cases were evaluated on whether they satisfied the user-pays principle, based on the idea of consumers paying the full cost of the services they get.
Extreme cases among the 40 mostly international schools included the German Swiss International School, which charged HK$3,700 – about 90 times above the permitted level. Singapore International School charged HK$3,000 for the academic year 2015/16. English Schools Foundation (ESF) kindergartens said they charged HK$500.
The move by the Ombudsman came after public criticism that the bureau was lax in its approval mechanism.
“This would be especially unfair if parents have paid unreasonably high application fees,” Lau said. Once application fees had been paid, kindergartens would not refund them whether or not the children were eventually admitted, she said.
An ESF spokeswoman defended the fees as necessary for processing applications. According to its website, the fee was to cover the administrative cost of the online application system as well as the staff cost of the play visit and parental interview for admission assessment purposes.
She added that the interview process might involve a “special educational needs adviser” and children might be invited back to the kindergarten for a second visit if further information was required.
But education lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen questioned whether the schools hoped to earn extra money or reduce the number of applicants by charging more.
He said such fees should only cover administrative expenses and should not be linked with school facilities or quality of teachers.
“The crux of the problem is the bureau approving of these kindergartens,” Ip said.
Kwok Chor-kiu, chairwoman of the Tai Po and North District Early Childhood Education Principal Association, said parents from well-off families did not mind paying more for popular kindergartens.
Many parents apply for seats at more than 10 kindergartens to increase the chances of their children getting in.
(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)
