School confusion

We have a 16 month old and originally thought we would be back in Australia by the time he goes to school at age 5. This doesn't seem to be the case now and we are wondering what if anything we need to do about primary schools. In Sydney we have his name down at two private schools but we are confused about what we need to do here. We read the SCMP article today about HK school debentures and become worried. Can someone explain the process and if we need to start thinking about waiting lists now?

If you want a particular school I would definately get his name down. You will have to pay a fee to put him on the waitlist, and then if he gets accepted usually he will have to pass an entrance interview.

If you have a corporate debenture from a company this will often give you priority on the list - but schools can "sell out" of debentures at times.

You will get priority at the Australian school (I assume this is where you are from). This school is in Kowloon Tong and runs terms the same as the Aust school year (so more holidays at Christmas time.) When we arrived we were told by the Aust school that it may be a 2 year wait to get our 4 year old in (we are Aust). It turned out she did get a place about 6 mths after we arrived but we chose a school on HK island as we live there.

Alot of families put there children down on waitlists at a number of International Schools to keep their options open - but it can be expensive as there is a non-refundable payment to go on the waitlist.

The ESF schools have a different system - you can only apply to the school you are zoned to and they have an application period before each year when you can apply. No point in putting names down before then.

If you know what school you want ring their admission office and they will give you an idea of waiting lists for his year of entry and the fee structures - corporate debentures, private debentures and capital levies.

Hope this helps