Hong Kong urged to require private schools to disclose financial status
By Wynna Wong
Hong Kong private schools should be required to disclose their financial status, lawmakers have said after an indebted institution failed to refund at least HK$5.8 million (US$745,970) worth of debentures to parents who withdrew their children from it.
The legislators on Thursday also expressed concerns about the future of 100 pupils enrolled at Han Academy, as education authorities had asked the private school, which is HK$100 million in debt, to stop charging parents a capital levy of HK$600,000 per student.
Lawmaker Edward Leung Hei, who has been handling complaints, said parents had no idea the Aberdeen-based school had been financially struggling until it began failing to pay them back.
“Parents have been continuously asking about the flow of these funds and how much is left, but the school did not make the information public, causing concerns about whether their money is already gone,” he told a radio show.
According to Leung, current policies only require schools to disclose certain accounts, including tuition, transfer and capital fees, while other items such as bonds do not need to be made public.
“Moving forward, it is necessary to disclose the status of these bonds, how much money is left, where it has been spent, not only to be accountable to current students but also to those who will soon enrol and need to purchase school bonds.”
Leung said he had been assisting about 50 parents with children at Han Academy since receiving the first call 1½ years ago.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
By Wynna Wong
Hong Kong private schools should be required to disclose their financial status, lawmakers have said after an indebted institution failed to refund at least HK$5.8 million (US$745,970) worth of debentures to parents who withdrew their children from it.
The legislators on Thursday also expressed concerns about the future of 100 pupils enrolled at Han Academy, as education authorities had asked the private school, which is HK$100 million in debt, to stop charging parents a capital levy of HK$600,000 per student.
Lawmaker Edward Leung Hei, who has been handling complaints, said parents had no idea the Aberdeen-based school had been financially struggling until it began failing to pay them back.
“Parents have been continuously asking about the flow of these funds and how much is left, but the school did not make the information public, causing concerns about whether their money is already gone,” he told a radio show.
According to Leung, current policies only require schools to disclose certain accounts, including tuition, transfer and capital fees, while other items such as bonds do not need to be made public.
“Moving forward, it is necessary to disclose the status of these bonds, how much money is left, where it has been spent, not only to be accountable to current students but also to those who will soon enrol and need to purchase school bonds.”
Leung said he had been assisting about 50 parents with children at Han Academy since receiving the first call 1½ years ago.
via SCMP Full Text Feed
