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The institution will cater to children aged three to six and will charge parents HK$72,800; teaching will be in English and Cantonese with Putonghua thrown in
The British Council has obtained a licence from the education authorities to operate its first kindergarten in Hong Kong, the organisation announced yesterday.
The British Council International Pre-School, which will open in August at the council’s Admiralty centre, will charge a tuition fee of HK$72,800 per child for the coming school year.
The kindergarten, for children aged three to six, will have an average class size of 20 pupils and a maximum capacity of 160 for the coming school year, according to a council spokeswoman.
“Over the years we have seen strong demand for diverse and high-quality early-years education in Hong Kong,” said the spokeswoman. “The pre-school is a response to demand from many satisfied parents who tell us they want their children to learn with us.”
She added that the council planned to expand the kindergarten in three to five years.
The pre-school will teach children in English and Cantonese, with daily Putonghua lessons. It will adopt the UK-based International Primary Curriculum, a theme-based curriculum that aims to develop children’s language ability naturally and to nurture their personal development, according to the council.
“Building on our experiences in English-language teaching in Hong Kong for more than 60 years, we are excited about the opening of the British Council’s first international pre-school here,” said council director Robert Ness.
The kindergarten’s head will be Jasmina Wadhwani, who according to the council has lived in Hong Kong for over 40 years with 18 years of experience in early-childhood education in local and international kindergartens, including Good Health International Pre-School in Aberdeen, Little Dalton Kindergarten in Pok Fu Lam, Manhabit International Kindergarten in Kowloon Tong and Piccolo Monte International Kindergarten in the same area.
The council’s pre-school in Singapore charged parents S$10,200 (HK$58,340) a year in 2014.
The council is a charity registered in the UK. It established its Hong Kong branch in 1948. It has branches in over 100 countries with 8,000 staff, including 2,000 teachers.
The council received a core publicly funded grant of £864 million (HK$9.7 billion) last year, which provides 20 per cent of its funding. The council earns the rest of its revenue from services such as English classes and UK examinations taken across the world.
(SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST)
