English Schools Foundation (ESF) parents with children about to start secondary school have been hit with a demand for cheques totalling HK$41,000 by the end of January in advance fees and levies for the school year starting next August.
A letter has gone out to parents asking for a HK$16,000 deposit along with HK$25,000 to cover the new refundable levy by January 28 if they want to secure their children's places in ESF secondary schools.
Parents are told in the letters they can send a separate post-dated cheque for the levy - which the ESF told them earlier was not due until May 21 - but are warned their children's places will not be confirmed until the cheque is cleared.
The demand - which follows a debate over the introduction of the levy and steep rises in ESF school fees over the past five years - has angered some parents, who say it is excessive and that deposits should no longer be necessary now the controversial levy is being imposed.
They are also unhappy parents must pay by direct debit in future and wary that mandate forms sent by the ESF showing an upper limit of HK$8,000 a month for primary schools and HK$11,000 for secondary schools indicate further fee rises.
ESF officials said they were making direct debits mandatory and asking for the levy and deposit simultaneously to ease the administrative burden and to be more 'environmentally friendly'. The upper limits were a 'buffer' against fee rises and rejected direct debits, they said.
