School to give back to the community

Nord Anglia Education, which yesterday was granted the right to run an international school on government land, will contribute to the community through training of local teachers and offer a teacher-to-pupil ratio that is "among the lowest" in the sector.

Philippe Lagger, development director of the school, which relocated its global headquarters to Hong Kong in 2012, said in a telephone interview with the that its school fees have taken into account the fact that the school was allowed to run on an urban site at a subsidised premium.

"We are an organisation that has a commercial angle, [but] the school in Hong Kong is operating as a non-profit school. This was a request by the government," Lagger said.

The fees will be very competitive compared with the top schools of Hong Kong in terms of quality, he said, without giving any figures.

According to the school's website, its Beijing branches charge a Year One student 184,017 yuan (HK$228,450) a year, while a Year Eight student has to pay 216,949 yuan (HK$269,333) annually.

But Lagger said that the fees in Hong Kong, while still pending discussions with the Education Bureau, will be less than on the mainland, adding that it was not aiming to become the most expensive school in Hong Kong.