Debentures pushing up prices for top HK schools

A Hong Kong couple have paid HK$1 million (US$130,000) to get their daughter into a top school in a sign of the increasingly fierce and expensive competition for places, the Sunday Morning Post reported.

It said the parents forked out for a corporate debenture -- which is over and above the annual fees charged by the school -- to ensure she was given a place in a first-year primary class.

Many Hong Kong's international schools are demanding that parents must buy a debenture, either through a company, which is more expensive, or personally. Only then, in some cases, will an application be examined.

They use the debenture, a deposit which is normally refunded when the child leaves, as a way of raising funds for development.

But as competition for places has intensified, debenture prices have risen sharply, leading to complaints that schools are becoming the preserve of the super-rich and deterring expatriates with families from moving to Hong Kong.

The Post said the girl was offered a place at Chinese International School after her parents paid for the debenture.

The school said its quoted price for corporate debentures was HK$600,000, but that parents could sell them on with permission.

The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong says it believes thousands of children are on waiting lists for international schools.

Such schools are hugely popular because they offer teaching in English and are seen by many Chinese residents as meeting a higher standard of education.