Psyguy, I haven't had a 'soured' experience at all, I don't know why you say this, nor do I seek to be some kind of 'expert' on HK schools, I answer honestly, that's all.
Hong Kong schools are what they are and I accept this, had I not, I would not have such a long teaching history there. Please don't try and 'categorise' me into something that fits into your view.

Other poster who asks re HK. ALL schools in HK require a 'pound of flesh' - most school hours are long, and parents (especially high fee paying Chinese parents) EXPECT their kids to do well, to have a lot of outside school hours help, to be available for parent interviews whenever they see fit, to provide lots of Extra Curricular Activities.

You need to be a qualified teacher (any school that takes unqualified teachers is not one you'll want to be in, believe me) often to have a Masters Degree and to have recent relevant experience in the relevant teaching field. Stear clear of the Language Centres and kindergartens that bring in many teachers and put them in apartments where they have to share.
I hesitate to name particular schools as 'good ones' - but the most prestigious ones would be, Chinese International, HKIS, Canadian International, Kellett School (sometimes known as British Int) Australian International, ESF schools.
Stear clear of any with 'odd' sounding names, Funful, Creative, etc etc.
Look on the fee paying section of this site for more info.
HK is often called the place where people wear 'golden handcuffs' they dont want to leave because of the low taxes/ability to save money - but become very jaded by living in the polluted city where people eat, shop and work only. Kids will tell you their favourite hobby is 'shopping' in HK.It can all become pretty shallow after the excitement's worn off.
Good luck!

Yes Psyguy, I've seen a few 'consultants' in HK. Most of them have no idea what theyre doing and are unaware of the limitations/cultural differences betwenn where they've come from and HK mentality. 'Snake oil salesmen' is what theyre commonly called.

Letter in today's South China Morning Post 18/9/11

I have recently arrived from Britain and taken a teaching position in a Hong Kong school.

Prior to my arrival I had been made aware of the stress suffered by teachers, but only after my first week at work did I actually come to understand why these levels of stress exist.

I have taught in a number of countries but have never come across a situation where teachers need to sleep at their desks between lessons. From my discussions with teachers working in other schools it seems that this is not uncommon.

It is no wonder teachers are stressed and tired, as they work exceptionally long hours and have very little time to relax and unwind. I have also been told by my school that all the teachers are required to work both Saturday and Sunday twice during the coming year.

I thought that labour laws in Hong Kong set a minimum of one rest day in a seven-day cycle, but it seems schools are allowed to ignore these.

When teachers are forced to work eight hours on Saturday and Sunday it places great stress on them, as their week is now 12 days long. If they have two of these in a row the number of days without a break can stretch to 20 days.

When will schools wake up and realise that tired teachers are ineffective teachers. It's time to put an end to modern day slavery.

Tamara Kiew, Fanling


Yes, it seems that your 'experiiences' in HK schools have been different from most other peoples.

I beg to disagree, they are paying lip service to moving towards the British Model of IB, in reality this can't happen because most local teachers are unable to teach unless they have a textbook to follow.
Are you referring to the International schools? Which ones? The ESF schools? The Funded schools? The non funded religious schools?

OK, Ive just read your post where you admit you've never actually taught in HK anywhere. I have to say, you are giving out a lot of misinformation about HK - I'm a permanent resident there and have taught in 8 schools over the years. I don't recognise any of them in the comments you make.

Then PsyGuy you're clearly unaware of the schools that start at 7.30 and go til 5, throw in Saturday as well, oh and sometimes an appearance at a religious ceremony on Sunday morning, oh and a staff meeting held entirely in Cantonese for 4 hours after school and let me see....thats around 55/56 hours...what I said is that a HK Principal can make you stay there at school for however long he wants. The HK EDB has NO jurisdiction over conditions in HK local schools and wouldnt dare to presume to take a HK Principal or a School Board to task over such goings on.
You have no idea what goes on in MANY local schools.

No, in no way do they...in fact I highly doubt a Hong Kong school would even know what a bill of rights was.
Each local HK school is a law unto itself. They can make you work 70 hours a week if they so desire.
Psyguy, if you have no idea, you really shouldn't guess.

Are you really a teacher in Hong Kong Psyguy? You constantly mix 'you're' and 'your', have the wrong spelling of 'principle' and sometimes have 'their and there confused. Given how hung up Chinese parents/principals are on correct spelling, syntax and grammar - I'm surprised!

Many schools around the world are wanting to adopt their own 'HK model'?
Can you enlighten a bit more about this, what model exactly, what schools?

The schools are all owned by a HK woman. There is very high turnover of staff. As for non-profit, who knows where the exorbitant fees go?
A someone else says, keep your head down and join in with the happy clappy Christians.

Sorry, but have to disagree with Psyguy. Ive lived and taught in HK for many years, and there are some absolutely crap schools there. Because places in schools are very hard to get, some schools are merely 'holding pens' until a place comes up in a relatively decent school or a child's English improves enough for parents to try and enrol them elsewhere.
The school fees and debentures would buy a small house elsewhere.
Some so called 'International Schools' employ cheaply - a person with a degree but no teaching qualification - and the teaching quality is sometimes poor.
Educationally, the whole place is a shemozzle....kids with any kind of learning problem are often simply given more work to do.
There's a lot in the South China Morning Post recently about just what a shemozzle the place is educationally....places like Shanghai, Singapore and Malaysia are making HK look bad with their forward looking education departments. the HK Education Department is run by bureacratic neanderthals who can't make a decision ( just like the Principals in local HK schools).