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Capital debenture fee?

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  1. #1

    Capital debenture fee?

    Hi
    My wife and I with our 2 year daughter are moving to HK in the new year.
    I keep seeing a " Capital Debenture fee" for kindergarten and was wondering want this is?
    is this something all parents pay?

    Thanks in advance

    j


  2. #2

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
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    Hong Kong
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    Yes--it is essentially a required fee. Back in the day it used to be refundable upon graduation--nowadays, not so much.


  3. #3

    Join Date
    May 2006
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    457

    Take a look at this article:

    http://topschools.com.hk/all-about-debentures/


  4. #4

    Hi Answerer,
    that has been really helpful!! Thank you.
    The said school I'm looking at do have a capital Levy.
    So that makes more sense now.

    J


  5. #5

    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    It depends on the school and the type of debenture. Some have a mandatory one per family or per student. Some are optional but essentially guarantee admissions. Some are refundable, others are not. So without knowing the school can't really say!

    Last edited by merchantms; 25-09-2017 at 09:23 AM.
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  6. #6

    Join Date
    Oct 2016
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    My understanding is...

    Debenture (corporate / individual) - a 'bribe' to get your child priority in application queue (note it does not guarantee a place e.g. your child might fail the interview!). Some are refundable when leaving the school (but depreciate over time).

    Capital Levy - an additional fee charged by the school for all successful applicants. May be 'one off' or may be an annual charge. Normally stated that it covers maintenance/expansion of school buildings (and other things the EDB state cannot be charged for as 'tuition fees').

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  7. #7

    Join Date
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    Very few KGs charge this. If you are budget conscious, there are tons of choices where such fees are un-necessary.


  8. #8

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Firemin:
    My understanding is...

    Debenture (corporate / individual) - a 'bribe' to get your child priority in application queue (note it does not guarantee a place e.g. your child might fail the interview!). Some are refundable when leaving the school (but depreciate over time).

    Capital Levy - an additional fee charged by the school for all successful applicants. May be 'one off' or may be an annual charge. Normally stated that it covers maintenance/expansion of school buildings (and other things the EDB state cannot be charged for as 'tuition fees').
    Not necessarily. I know for sure a few schools (e.g. HKA, GSIS, The Harbour School) require all families to pay a debenture which is due after acceptance, and has various levels of refundability. Some schools also/instead of have a debenture that gets you to the front of the queue.

    The term just means "chunk of money from parent to school" and if you look around you will find a huge variation.

  9. #9

    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by HowardCoombs:
    Very few KGs charge this. If you are budget conscious, there are tons of choices where such fees are un-necessary.
    The only standalone kindy I've heard of with a debenture is PIPS. Every other I've seen is a through school that starts at K1. Extremely easy to avoid.

  10. #10

    Hi all,
    this is the kindergarten
    https://www.ichk.edu.hk/home/join-ou...l-information/

    thank you

    j


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