HONG KONG: Parents of students at the newly taken over Pegasus Philip Wong Kin Hang Christian Primary School cum Junior Secondary School expressed confidence in the new sponsoring body Fukien Chamber of Commerce Education Fund after meeting with them last night.

About 500 parents attended the meeting.

One of them, surnamed Ho, whose daughter is studying primary six, said she believed service at the school will be up to quality.

"I believe some of the new facilities are better than the existing ones," she said.

Another parent surnamed Leung, whose son will study primary three in September, also expressed confidence after the meeting with the new sponsoring body.

"The new management has given explanations in details and I am thankful to that," he said.

But one parent surnamed To, whose son will study primary three in September, said the new management did not explain in detail how the curriculum will be amended.

"The school said there would be some changes to the curriculum, but it did not say exactly how they will do it," she said, adding the school pledged that there would be a teacher appraisal mechanism.

A parent surnamed Au said he is worried that the religious curriculum will be amended.

Fukien Chamber of Commerce Education Fund, which took over the school on Tuesday, runs two other secondary schools in Kwun Tong and Siu Sai Wan.

Lam Kin-wah, principal of Fukien Secondary School, said they discussed with parents on transitional arrangements for students to proceed to senior classes.

The junior secondary section of the Yau Tong school will be phased out. Its on-going and primary six students will study at the Fukien Secondary School in Kwun Tong by the 2011-12 school year, Lam said.

Lam added that 90 percent of the school's teachers will stay with the school.

The school management committee is scheduled to meet on Friday.

The Fukien Chamber of Commerce Education Fund was chosen last week by the Education Bureau to take over the Yau Tong school after its former operator Pegasus Social Service Christian Organization abruptly announced in May that the organization was pulling out of the school.

(HK Edition 07/16/2009 page1)