Hong Kong school principal rejects allegations of mismanagement amid privatisation dispute
- Principal of Confucian Tai Shing Primary says row with school’s sponsor ‘nothing to do with the school’s daily management’
The head of a Hong Kong primary school has rejected allegations that a dispute with the sponsoring body over a privatisation plan is reflective of management problems, as suggested by education authorities.
Debe Yuen Poon Suk-han, principal of the Confucian Tai Shing Primary School in Wong Tai Sin, made the remarks after the Education Bureau said it would appoint managers to help the institution’s governing committee carry out its duties and ensure that management performed at a satisfactory level.
The school sponsoring body, the Confucian Academy, last Saturday said it planned to cease operating the subsidised school from 2026-27 and turn it into a private institution that charged debentures.
But six school managers, including Poon, said they were not properly consulted about the plan.
“I very much welcome the Education Bureau’s intervention in the incident,” Poon said, but stressed the row had nothing to do with the school’s daily management.
“I hope that while the Education Bureau intervenes, it will also clarify what it means by the failed management, so that no one will make a big fuss and confuse the public.”
Poon said the Confucian Academy and several managers had different opinions on the intended closure of the school and could not reach a consensus.
“The Confucian Academy also refused to convene a school board meeting in accordance with the school’s governance structure, to discuss the plan in an open and transparent manner,” she said.
A spokeswoman for the Education Bureau said the Education Ordinance granted the school sponsoring body the statutory power to decide to accept government subsidies.
She also said the “failed management” referred to the leadership’s inability to reach a consensus on the transition plan during discussions on the intended closure.
The principal on Monday revealed that supervisor William Tong Wai-lun had told her last December that he wanted to sign a contract with an external organisation to turn the school into a private institution charging expensive debentures.
The principal said the supervisor on June 5 wanted to meet parents urgently to discuss “school development” in 10 days, falling short of the 14-day notification period required, while the governing committee and parents’ group wanted to reschedule it.
Poon said Tong also distributed fliers outside the campus on June 11 to tell parents about the meeting last Saturday, after the school management refused to send out the relevant circulars without the agreement of the governing council.
She said only four of the 180 parents showed up at the meeting on June 15.
“It is ridiculous that he arrived at the school last Saturday and asked the staff from four other schools in the district to recruit our students on our campus,” Poon said.
The governing council sent a legal letter to the Education Bureau last Friday to ask for help after they assessed the dispute was out of control.
Supervisor Tong said the school’s management was told in April of plans to turn the school into a private one and to stop admitting Primary One students.
He also accused the school management of not letting the school sponsoring body meet parents.
