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Local school or ESF/International

  1. #1

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    Local school or ESF/International

    Does anyone have insight starting a child in local school and moving them to EST/International later? We are Chinese and we're pretty concerned that if we put our child through international school that they may lose a life long opportunity to develop native level Cantonese and Mandarin. And I don't mean just fluency. I mean the ability to carry on deep conversations and connect culturally to the majority of Hong Kong.

    That's why we were thinking that we might start our child in local school and move into an international school for high school. Assuming that we had the ability to get in of course...

    Like most parents on this board, I am not fond of the local system, but as one colleague and a few friends told me, moving from local to international school is really easy for your child, but going the other way around is impossible.

    At the same time, we're also afraid that a purely local education will either screw up our kid pretty badly and turn them into really unhappy people, or will not open as many doors as studying an international school environment. I'm sending them to the US for college for sure.

    I am just really concerned that one day my child is going to grow up and find out that they've lived their whole life in Hong Kong and yet don't really connect with Hong Kong people. As a parent, I want my children to feel welcome and at home, not like an outsider, which is what many of my friends that grew up in international schools feel like.

    I do have a few friends that I feel can perfectly blend with with locals and then completely switch into American mode, and all of them did local school up till either primary or secondary before moving completely overseas.

    It's a real big dilemma for me. Want to know if any other parents have been seriously considering this.

    jasmiwu likes this.

  2. #2

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    My daughter spent 7 years in a traditional local school(till Form 1) and then switched to an international school and is now thriving, happy and confident. I must say that the local school 'damaged' her in many ways.


  3. #3

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    @Tonton
    In what way did the local school 'damage' your daughter if I may ask? We are seriously considering sending our child to local school up till secondary and then switching to international as well.


  4. #4

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    Basically, she had no life apart from the never ending routine of homework, tests, exams,more homework even during Easter and summer. And I've seen her work very hard but it was never good enough for the teachers. It seems that if she didn't get good grades in any subject, to the teachers, the simple explanation was that she didn't work hard enough. Looking back, it was the impossible local curriculum that the education dept came up with that forced the students to adopt a rote learning, drill type , mechanic way of learning.


  5. #5

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    That said, she did learn Chinese ( Cantonese and putonghua) . That was useful because we are not local HK Chinese.She is now in an international school with an American curriculum and is so well-adjusted and the happiest teen I could have. Being in a local school before made her appreciative and grateful .


  6. #6

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    I am a student finishing my last year at CIS. I have been an international student my whole life and I don't think that it necessarily causes that large a gap or disconnection with local students. I don't speak the same Canto slang or am as immersed in local pop culture, but I don't think that it has to be a bad thing! I still have many friends who come from local schools and we have no problem getting along. I have been very happy throughout my school life and am now heading off to a local university.

    I think that if you can afford it, definitely go for international schools the whole way! As for the Mandarin skills problem, there are some very good international schools for Chinese. I am not boasting but I know that my Mandarin skills are at least on par or even better than some local students. This is because I have local students that switched over to my class in the last 2 years and my Chinese is comparable to theirs. The level of Chinese really has to do with the international schools you pick. For your reference, I went to SIS for primary (primary 1-5) and CIS for secondary (year 7 onwards). SIS was really an excellent school for a great, sturdy basis in Chinese, I credit it for most of my Mandarin skills. As for CIS, I think it is the international school that focuses the most on Chinese in HK.

    jasmiwu likes this.

  7. #7

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    Thanks Janice for your insight. Unfortunately CIS is impossible to get into unless your are extremely well connected and/or have sibling/alumni etc. priority. Not one single "normal" child made it into reception this year, very misleading on their behalf as they did charge the parents HKD 4000,- for the application and assessment process......


  8. #8

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    Thanks TonTon for your info....more to think about. What a nightmare this whole schooling situation in Hong Kong is!!!


  9. #9

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    @tonton - Thanks for your insight. I guess the question is: If you were to do it again, would you choose the local school again?

    @molie - Re: the reception class for CIS, did you apply for it yourself or did you hear this from other parents? CIS is on our list as I have a lot of friends that are CIS alumni and also some friends have children there. I know a few staff there and have done indirect volunteer work through other organizations there . . . does that count as connections?

    @janicej - It's nice to hear from you, and to get your perspective. I'm actually surprised that you live in HK and you don't speak the slang! Even as a non native myself, I get the slang and urban culture references, but perhaps I intentionally seek that out as I know I'm an outsider. You've still got your whole life ahead of you and a great journey. What will determine whether you feel like a minority or outsider in Hong Kong will be the friends and family that you surround yourself with. Unfortunately the probability is high that you will go overseas to a Western college/uni, then potentially come back to HK and work with an MNC. Those kinds of things are likely to slowly make you feel less connected to Hong Kong people and culture. That's not good nor bad, but it's something I was thinking local school might help mitigate.

    I've had some parents suggest that we send our child to both a local play group and an international play group while we think about this. Any else ever done that? She's currently at Tutor Time.


  10. #10

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    During those 7 years in a traditional local school, there was a lot of tension at home as she struggled to be 'obedient' and good, regarded as virtues in a local school. She raised her hand before she spoke, and memorized answers that she thought the teachers would give marks for. Even for subjects like Liberal Studies, she memorized politically correct answers!
    I would not put her through the local system again just to learn Chinese. I rather she develop a critical thinking mind and be bold in 'out of the box' thinking.


    Sent from my iPad using GeoClicks mobile app


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