| Posted: Mon May 27, 2013 11:38 am Post subject: / Hong Kong School holidays 2014 |
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Seems like it should be a simple question I know, but turns out it is very complex and hence the multiple answers you are getting, often contradictory I'm sure.
The basic problem is that there is no "Hong KOng School calendar" as such, it is entirely up to each school to make their own calendar. Even the government Education Bureau does not set a calendar, instead it sets some requirements such as number of days schooling per year. In addition the tradition and expectations of parents cause certain common schedules to be held.
But within those restrictions there are still a lot of variations possible, so really it is each school to themselves.
When it comes to the academic calendar there are three basic groups of schools if you will.
1. "Local" schools, those attended by the majority of the Hong Kong Cantonese speaking population
2. ESF Schools, those English speaking schools run by the English Schools Foundation which all share a basic calendar, though still with variations in individual schools.
3. Other international schools; each of which have entirely distinct schedules!
For the first group, the local schools, the school days are basically working days. If the parents are going to work, then the kids are in school. That makes sense and is reasonable of course. The two big exceptions being summer holidays, typically all of July and August, and Chinese New Year where the school CNY holiday extends well beyond the 3 days enjoyed by the working population.
Note that local schools tend not to have long Christmas or new year holidays, nor do they have "half term" breaks.
In the second group, the ESF schools, the format tries to be a mix of local expectations including public holidays of course, combined with the more UK style with term breaks and a long Christmas holiday. There is also the pressure on ESF because many UK based parents want to return to the UK during holiday times to be with other family members.
As for the other international schools, I'm afraid no generalizations are possible, each one does it's own thing.
A confusing and unsatisfactory answer I know, but I hope at least it clarified why it is so confusing. |
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