I was thinking a long time about if I really should post this. But I am really up-set with the Hong Kong system how to get your kids into Primary 1.
My son is now 5 and a few months old - he needs a Primary 1 admission for the school year 2012/2013.
Since weeks we are doing applications for so-called DSS schools here in Hong Kong. My son is a mix - I am a "gweilo" - the mother is HK chinese - mother tongue cantonese & very good mandarin + very good english.
My sons first language is english, his mandarin is developing, his cantonese is "playground - level".
He can read english since more than 10 months - surely with some flaws when the words are too complicate or unknown to him. He recently was reading the content of a "Letter of Credit" to me when he was in our office for a visit.
So as all parents in Hong Kong need to suffer the same system I do not want to complain about the procedure - but I want to complain about the system in general for applying Primary 1 admission at so- called DSS schools.
Info here
These schools are in the middle between the real public schools + private (international) schools.
Means monthly fee can be between HKD 1,500 - 5,000 (approximately - do not challenge me on this).
So if you want your kid to get admitted into one of this DSS schools you normally need to do following:
1) Make an application with a lot of copies (HK Id, birth certificate, latest kindergarten reports, some even ask for proof of your address via CLP or Towngas bill) - surely plus application fee between HKD 20 - HKD 150 - non-refundable.
2) In average you can say maximum seats for Primary 1 is no more than 150 per DSS School. Some schools have more than 3,000 applications for this 150 seats.
3) Then your kid needs to go to have an interview in each of the schools you have applied for. Funnily in the peak time interviews in some of the schools are conducted on the same days. My boy had a record of 5 interviews in 3 days !
4) What they are doing in the interviews is completely not clear - what they are asking - and how they are choosing winners & loosers out of a few hundred or thousands is completely a BIG SECRET.
5) And then you have to wait for the result mainly getting admitted for a 2nd interview - if you get this you are already lucky.
6) In between you better file the application for the public - means government schools POA (Primary One Admission) - to at least have a "back-up" if your kid is not successful for the DSS schools you have applied for.
7) The whole process is going over months until you are clear if your kid made it into one of the DSS schools you have applied for or not.
Hong Kong parents can be very ambitious with their kids: In queuing up at one school to get into the interview hall some "drilled 5-year old in a suit with a bow was very noisily calling his Daddy on the mobile and really asked him: "What again was the name of the first astronaut" ?
Another point is following: With so many applications for each DSS school and so little seats for each of them, most have to "fail" - but others will suddenly hold a choice of 3 - 4 different schools to send their kid into. And they are holding back their decisions for a long time which school to choose - means they are blocking with one kid the place for 2 or 3 other kids which can move up on a so called waiting - list.
Why there is not a system synching the results from school to school & asking the parents to make their decisions within a certain (short) period after they were getting the green light from several schools.
In case my son will fail all 10 applications (4 he failed already) we need to wait until next year May to try some "begging" to some of the failed schools as then some seats are getting vacant because parents with multiply choice of schools have stepped out.
Why parents having their kids already in ESF schools (they start one year earlier) are still allowed to participate in "the race" ? I know several cases doing like this.
Also I feel there is still some racist elements in deciding for admissions. Why a school with a curriculum 100% in English needs to conduct interview with the kids also in Cantonese ?
Why some principal of some of this schools even has a more worse english intonation / expression as my son ? And he still get rejected !
The system is completely unbalanced and completely not fair.
Oh yes - please consider we are talking about children 5+ years old - need to go to interviews - like applying for position of CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Sometimes they just want to play and have fun.
Our adult-driven success - money - hectic - stress- life - competition - do they really need to adopt to this already that young ? My son has refused inside several interviews (as far as he could really tell us) - just saying "I don't know" - so what is the REAL CRITERIA to get selected for the school ?
They need to be able to read in 2 languages - count - do some maths - talk about science - about economics & the world politics - are we sure this is exactly what a 5 year old plus a few months is really deeply interested in ? I always thought learning reading / counting etc starts with school only ..... surely now in the KINDERGARTEN they can learn already some basics which is good.
But how perfect our kids here in Hong Kong must be to just manage to get a P1 seat ?
Being obedient already during the interview ?
Being a "drilled smart interview expert".
Having parents filling out several pages of questionnaire the school is asking for ? I have seen parents adding several pages to that paper (maybe they think the more they write the better the chances of their kid).
They are just innocent kids !
So how much pressure we need to give them to be successful ?
Do they really understand what is this all good for ? I have deep doubts.
And last not least:
Do they "google" the names of applicants parents esp. if one is a "gweilo" ? Then I have "bad cards" as my real name was released by AP (Associated Press) a few years ago - do they judge on this ?
If you need details about schools procedures please feel free to contact me.
Google+: Popular posts, eye-catching analytics, photo fun and...
We think Google+ should get better every time you use it. It’s not enough to obsess over community feedback (which we do); we also need to surprise and delight you with constant improvements (which we also try and do). Today’s no different, so we’re rolling out four new features in four different areas.
What’s Hot on Google+: see what everyone’s talking about
Google+ users share and receive billions of items every day—on a wide range of topics, in nearly every country. Circles give you a personal lens on all this activity, helping you focus on updates from your family or your favorite celebrities. But sometimes you want to know what the world is so excited about. Whether it’s breaking news or beautiful photos, you just don’t want to miss anything. With this in mind, we’re launching “What’s Hot” on Google+, a new place to visit for interesting and unexpected content:
Google+ Ripples: watch how posts get shared
There’s something deeply satisfying about sharing on Google+, then watching the activity unfold. Comments pour in, notifications light up, friends share with friends (who share with their friends), and in no time at all there’s an entire community around your post. We want to help people re-live those conversations—both to rekindle that initial excitement, and to learn how posts flow across the network. That’s why we’re launching Google+ Ripples: a visualization tool for public shares and comments.
To get started, just find a public post that interests you, and select “View Ripples.” From there you can replay its activity, zoom in on certain events, identify top contributors and much more. Google+ Ripples is still experimental, so let us know how we can make it more informative and more awesome:
Google+ Creative Kit: have more fun with your photos
Nothing tells a story like the perfect picture, so it’s only natural to want to make yours really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking. Unfortunately, photo editing is too often a chore, requiring specialized software and lots of patience. We want to help everyone put their best photo forward, so today we’re introducing the Google+ Creative Kit, a fast and friendly way to make powerful edits to your photos.
Now you can add that vintage feel to your vacation photos. Or sharpen those snapshots from the family barbeque. Or add some text for added personality. With the Creative Kit, all you need is an idea:
Of course: we also think photo editing should be lots of fun. So we’ve added some limited-edition Halloween effects to the Creative Kit, and we’re inviting everyone on Google+ to join a ghoulish (and good-spirited) photo competition.
Through the end of October, simply add some spook to your photos, and share them publicly on Google+ with the hashtag #gplushalloween. We’ll assemble a surprise panel of celebrities, and next Thursday, Nov 3, they’ll announce their favorites. In the meantime, you can see early submissions from community members below. After all: we take our fun very seriously. :-)
… Google Apps customers can now use Google+
You’ve been asking for it. I’ve been talking about it. And today we’re excited to make Google+ available to all Google Apps customers worldwide. Visit the Google Enterprise Blog for more details.
We think Google+ should get better every time you use it, and we hope it feels that way today. If ever it doesn’t, we hope you’ll let us know.
What’s Hot on Google+: see what everyone’s talking about
Google+ users share and receive billions of items every day—on a wide range of topics, in nearly every country. Circles give you a personal lens on all this activity, helping you focus on updates from your family or your favorite celebrities. But sometimes you want to know what the world is so excited about. Whether it’s breaking news or beautiful photos, you just don’t want to miss anything. With this in mind, we’re launching “What’s Hot” on Google+, a new place to visit for interesting and unexpected content:
Google+ Ripples: watch how posts get shared
There’s something deeply satisfying about sharing on Google+, then watching the activity unfold. Comments pour in, notifications light up, friends share with friends (who share with their friends), and in no time at all there’s an entire community around your post. We want to help people re-live those conversations—both to rekindle that initial excitement, and to learn how posts flow across the network. That’s why we’re launching Google+ Ripples: a visualization tool for public shares and comments.
To get started, just find a public post that interests you, and select “View Ripples.” From there you can replay its activity, zoom in on certain events, identify top contributors and much more. Google+ Ripples is still experimental, so let us know how we can make it more informative and more awesome:
Google+ Creative Kit: have more fun with your photos
Nothing tells a story like the perfect picture, so it’s only natural to want to make yours really, really, really, ridiculously good-looking. Unfortunately, photo editing is too often a chore, requiring specialized software and lots of patience. We want to help everyone put their best photo forward, so today we’re introducing the Google+ Creative Kit, a fast and friendly way to make powerful edits to your photos.
Now you can add that vintage feel to your vacation photos. Or sharpen those snapshots from the family barbeque. Or add some text for added personality. With the Creative Kit, all you need is an idea:
Of course: we also think photo editing should be lots of fun. So we’ve added some limited-edition Halloween effects to the Creative Kit, and we’re inviting everyone on Google+ to join a ghoulish (and good-spirited) photo competition.
Through the end of October, simply add some spook to your photos, and share them publicly on Google+ with the hashtag #gplushalloween. We’ll assemble a surprise panel of celebrities, and next Thursday, Nov 3, they’ll announce their favorites. In the meantime, you can see early submissions from community members below. After all: we take our fun very seriously. :-)
… Google Apps customers can now use Google+
You’ve been asking for it. I’ve been talking about it. And today we’re excited to make Google+ available to all Google Apps customers worldwide. Visit the Google Enterprise Blog for more details.
We think Google+ should get better every time you use it, and we hope it feels that way today. If ever it doesn’t, we hope you’ll let us know.
More local deals, personalized to your interests
There’s a universe of amazing daily deals out there, but it's hard to find them all in one place—and even harder to discover the ones that really matter to you.
We’re making improvements to Google Offers that help address this challenge. First, we’re delivering more amazing deals from a bunch of new categories including outdoor adventure sports, luxury experiences, family-friendly events, classes and more. We’re also introducing a personalization quiz to help you find just the deal you want, all in one place.
Google Offers subscribers in the San Francisco Bay Area will have access to these new deals, and the quiz is now available in all cities. We'll gradually roll out an expanded offers inventory to new cities in the months to come.
To make all this happen, we’ve partnered with the best deal providers in the industry including Dealfind, DoodleDeals, Gilt City, GolfNow, HomeRun, Juice in the City, kgbdeals, Mamapedia, Plum District, PopSugar Shop, ReachDeals, Active.com Schwaggle, TIPPR and zozi. Now, with one account you can easily purchase, manage and redeem all your offers in one place.
Our new personalization quiz is a first step towards bringing you more relevant deals. You can tell us what categories you’re interested in and where you hang out so we can send you just the tailored offers that match your interests—all in one email. If you’re not the outdoorsy type or interested in cosmetic treatments, then we won’t send you deals for zipline adventures and laser hair removal. Don’t worry, if your interests change you can always update your preferences.
You can subscribe to receive deals that match your interests and learn more about Google Offers at google.com/offers. If you’re a deal provider interested in partnering with Google Offers, please submit your application using this form.
Finally, thanks to The Dealmap team that recently joined Google. They definitely helped on this one and we’re looking forward to working with them to develop many new ideas in the months and years to come.
(Cross-posted on the Commerce Blog)
We’re making improvements to Google Offers that help address this challenge. First, we’re delivering more amazing deals from a bunch of new categories including outdoor adventure sports, luxury experiences, family-friendly events, classes and more. We’re also introducing a personalization quiz to help you find just the deal you want, all in one place.
Google Offers subscribers in the San Francisco Bay Area will have access to these new deals, and the quiz is now available in all cities. We'll gradually roll out an expanded offers inventory to new cities in the months to come.
To make all this happen, we’ve partnered with the best deal providers in the industry including Dealfind, DoodleDeals, Gilt City, GolfNow, HomeRun, Juice in the City, kgbdeals, Mamapedia, Plum District, PopSugar Shop, ReachDeals, Active.com Schwaggle, TIPPR and zozi. Now, with one account you can easily purchase, manage and redeem all your offers in one place.
Visit Google Offers today to purchase this great deal from the leading luxury experience site Gilt City
Our new personalization quiz is a first step towards bringing you more relevant deals. You can tell us what categories you’re interested in and where you hang out so we can send you just the tailored offers that match your interests—all in one email. If you’re not the outdoorsy type or interested in cosmetic treatments, then we won’t send you deals for zipline adventures and laser hair removal. Don’t worry, if your interests change you can always update your preferences.
You can select what categories of deals you’d like to receive with the personalization quiz
You can subscribe to receive deals that match your interests and learn more about Google Offers at google.com/offers. If you’re a deal provider interested in partnering with Google Offers, please submit your application using this form.
Finally, thanks to The Dealmap team that recently joined Google. They definitely helped on this one and we’re looking forward to working with them to develop many new ideas in the months and years to come.
(Cross-posted on the Commerce Blog)
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