Hong Kong lawmakers reject a HK$1.4 billion loan plan for four international schools
- The schools were hoping to use the cash to help repay bridging loans they had taken out for campus development
- Opposition lawmakers questioned the need for such financial assistance since these schools have more resources than their local counterparts
This came as Harrow International School Hong Kong announced this week it would offer a 20 per cent reduction of the summer term tuition fees to parents, following an earlier petition demanding a fee cut of up to 25 per cent.
The proposal, which was tabled by the Education Bureau, suggested providing interest-free loans to the Christian Alliance International School, Malvern College Hong Kong, Shrewsbury International School and the French International School.
The amounts involved ranged from HK$287 million to HK$518 million for each school, and would help them repay bridging loans which they had taken out to finance the construction of new buildings, with a repayment period of 10 years and HK$297 million in interest foregone.
In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council this month, the bureau said international schools were facing “unprecedented challenging times” amid the pandemic, including a drop in the number of non-local students as well as lower income from tuition fees.
