homeschooling / IELTS

My daughter is now being homeschooled. She is going to study for her GCSE's soon. Does anyone know how to go about taking these exams in HK? Also, does anyone know if my daughter takes IELTS would that be as good as taking GCSE English?

Its not illegal, but to do it properly you're supposed to have the permission from the head of the EMB.

Yes they will, but there was a great article last year about a large group of expat homeschoolers who had got together. The EMB realised they could not do anything about it due to many factors: The amount of home schooled kids is too large, they all had not been accepted into internationals here, or their parents could not afford international schooling and there is no public alternative. What there is for locals is hardly inspiring. So..........


They have been allowed to continue, the EMB will not risk "losing face" over the issues listed above which would of course come to light should they decide to take any legal action over these parents.

Your replies are interesting. My daughter is 16 so presumably old enough not to go to school. She feels that studying by herself will be more fruitful and enables her to do other things such as part-time work. What I wanted to know was if there was any way she could study for GCSE and take the exams in Hong Kong as opposed to going to England to take them which I know you can do (Oxford Homeschooling offers such courses).


Also, does anyone know if IELTS can take the place of doing a GCSE English exam? IELTS can be done through the British Council.

Thanks for your suggestion. As a matter of interest what is the age you can legally leave school in HK? I was under the impression it was 13 but maybe I am wrong.

I thought it was legal to leave school after the 9 years free education provided by the government or equivalent ie after third form/year 9?

Thanks for your advice which is good. I will follow it up.

there are misleading points in above posts


the word "illegal" is not appropriate to HK homeschooling


please join here and ask questions

http://homeschool.meetup.com/530/


for public exams,

i think there are self study students and school students


self study students usually have to pay a bit higher exam registration fee


for exam info

http://snurl.com/212v1

Thanks Vrindavan. You are very helpful. I have just gone to the website you mentioned and will see if anyone can help me. My daughter opted out of school but is very eager to study but wants to do GCSEs and I have been up every avenue trying to sort this situation out. OXFORD HOMESCHOOLING's website looks good and they assess coursework but she would have to do exams in England.


I understand Kazasia's situation as I feel just like you - going round and round in circles. I am living in Lamma so can't help you much.

Gwyneth, there are quite a few teens in Shatin who are homeschooling. However, although they were born and raised in HK, they hold American and NZ passports. Thus, they are seeking diplomas from those countries. Most of the homeschoolers that I know of in Sai Kung are in the younger age bracket and so probably couldn't help much.Try these website: http://www.oxfordhomeschooling.co.uk

http://www.briteschool.co.uk

http://www.homestudy.org.uk/mercers_college


On another note, for Kazasia, the Norwegian International School in Tai Po has really turned a corner in the past two years and have some wonderful teachers and very small class sizes (limited to 15) and are able to accomodate various learning levels within the grades. When I contacted the EMB about homeschooling my daughter, they said that I didn't need "permission" and there isn't a formal application or anything remotely like that. I think it's only "illegal" if you aren't actually homeschooling, such as the man who had kept his kids at home a few years ago and called it homeschooling. That story gained a lot of negative press and brought about the perception that homeschooling is illegal. On yet another note, as of this year, the children in Form 2 will be required to attend school all the way through Form 5. Previously, schooling was required for only 9 years, Form 3. After Form 5, students can sit for the HKCEE exam and those who excel can go on to Form 6.

Thanks Namaste. I rang the HK Exams Authority and my daughter can take IGCSE here (previously I had asked for GCSE by e-mail and got a negative response but by phone the confusion was sorted out). I will look up the websites you mention. I have only looked at Oxford Homeschooling who tell me we can only take exams in the UK and not here so will look at the other sites.

Kazasia,

I think that once your child is admitted to the school, the staff and faculty will really work with the child. I have seen a few kids there who had behavioral and social issues when they entered four years ago and after a lot of nurturing, those kids have really grown and developed. They also have a strong sense of belonging and community due to the family like setting. I'm sure I'll meet you. My daughter is in Grade 3 there.

You can take exams in Hong Kong through this organisation:


http://eant01.hkeaa.edu.hk/hkea/new_look_home.asp


You can study for the IGCSEs that are offered by the hkeaa through the NEC, Little Arthur School, or InternationGCSE.com.


An alternative is to just look up the IGCSE syllabuses, get the relevant text books, and study on your own. This is what we are doing for Biology IGCSE, which my son expects to take in November.


Best wishes


Laura

Hi there


I work for Briteschool, and one of my colleague's works for Oxford Homeschooling as well.


Briteschool has live online classrooms, where the students meet together at set times for lessons. I teach students from as far apart as Florida and Japan at the same time (most are Europe / Gulf-based). We offer Maths, English, the Sciences, French, Hirtory and Gegraphy all to IGCSE, as well as Spanish and extra-curricular Japanese and Photography and Computing at the moment. Oh, and other things as one-offs or during our annual Activities Week in December.


Oxfor Homeschooling is different - it offers correspondence courses, I believe, and a tutor sets and marks assignments, as well as being available by email and (I think) phone. This type of schooling suits the more independent learner, those wanting to do more unusual subjects, those who travel a lot and / or have more limited access to a computer, and is also a bit cheaper (I think).


Hope this helps !


- E !

Thanks for your information. Presumably you are the website mentioned above. I will look it up as I haven't had time lately to look up all the useful information everyone has sent. The more I look into this type of education the more I find it very interesting and appealing. It seems mainstream education, though really useful and good, is not the be all and end all of life. I feel more confident about my daughter's situation and believe she can move forward without problem. Thanks for everyone's help.

Hi all,

I just wanted to update this thread with our experience. We decided to switch from traditional schooling to homeschooling and contacted the EDB. We just got approval today and this is the procedure we went through.


1. We rang the main office of the EDB they told us over the phone that it is determined by each local district and put us through to the local department.


2. Spoke to the local representative for our education district. She then sent us a form to fill in.


3. After filling in and returning the form we were called in for an interview (along with our child). At the interview she went through our application paying specific attention to:

a. Social development

b. Moral education

c. Physical education


4. She then gave us approval to go ahead with homeschooling with the following proviso:

a. Approval is not a one off process. They will require updates on a continuing basis.

b. They will perform home visits once a year.

c. They require some kind of yearly independent assessment to make sure the children are not falling behind.


Ordinances:

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government accords high priority to provide quality education and is committed to providing nine years of free and universal education to children aged between six and fifteen. Starting from 2008/09 school year, free education has been extended to include secondary education provided by public sector secondary schools.


Section 74 (1) of the Education Ordinance, Chapter 279, Law of Hong Kong stipulates “Where it appears to the Permanent Secretary that a child is not attending primary school or secondary school without any reasonable excuse, the Permanent Secretary may, after making such inquiries as he considers necessary, serve upon a parent of the child an attendance order in the specified form requiring him to cause the child to attend regularly as a pupil the primary or secondary school named in the attendance order.”


Besides, section 78 of the same ordinance also states “ Any parent who without reasonable excuse fails to comply with an attendance order shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine at level 3 (now $10,000 ) and to imprisonment for 3 months."


Furthermore, Article 42 of the Basic Law has stated clearly that Hong Kong residents and other persons in Hong Kong shall have the obligation to abide by the laws in force in HKSAR. Accordingly, parents must send their children within universal basic education age range (6-15) to school unless with reasonable excuse.


The Education Bureau (EDB) firmly believes, having regard to Hong Kong’s present socio-economic situation, it is in the best interest of children that they should all go to school. School education can provide children with a more balanced and structured formal curriculum as well as extra curriculum activities, and opportunities for interaction with peers and teachers. All these are essential for all-round development, covering the domains of ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics.


Nevertheless, the EDB does realize that there may be a few exceptional cases in which alternative form of education may suit the genuine needs of some children. In this regards, parents who plan or administer home education for their children should approach the EDB and give details about their plans or the ways that they administer education at home. Whether flexibility can be given will depend on whether the EDB is satisfied with the ways how home education is delivered to that particular child.



I just want to point out the EDB was not obstructive in anyway and they seemed to have the child’s needs in focus through the whole process. Hopefully that is of some use to future HK homeschoolers.

Thank you for your update. I don't think that the Education is set in concrete and will not change from what is written in the book because there are always special cases for doing things differently.


Since I posted over 2 years ago, my case is history. My daughter did all her exams herself and got the requirements to study Fashion at London College of Fashion and is about to embark on the BA course.

Hi there,


I am a reporter from ATV World News. Currently working in a story about homeschooling in HK. Can anyone please share some of your experience in doing so (regardless you are a parent or an online platform teacher) in HK?


Many thanks,

Stanley Sum

My experience is with my daughter who was 15 at the time and in Form 3 at the time. She left school for personal reasons. After a few months of doing very little she eventually enrolled on a fashion course in the evening and studied IGCSEs herself at home. She is now in a fashion college in London. I am not sure if this fits in with what you are actually looking for. There are several people who are homeschooling in Discovery Bay and I think it works out well for them.