Program Details
| Program Length | Start | End | Program Cost | Age on Departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exchange Year | September | May end | US$7,000 | 16-17 |
Age Explanation: Age on Departure reflect both the years and month(s) of the age of the applicant at the start of the program. For example, if the age is listed as 16.1 the applicant should be 16 years and 1 month at departure.
Hong Kong Details :
Hong Kong should not be promoted as an English speaking destination. Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, and the official language is Cantonese. The large majority of placements in Hong Kong will be in Cantonese schools, only a limited number of placements will be in schools which use English as the medium of instruction.
Many of the better schools in Hong Kong are church-related, primarily Catholic, and are often all girl or all boy schools; There are a limited number of placements in International schools and which have a more intensive selection process, so placement in an international school cannot be guaranteed upon request.
Almost all Hong Kong schools require students to wear a uniform. Schools in Hong Kong are very conservative, and often require short haircuts and no beards for boys as well as no make-up and no jewelry for girls. When students are in uniforms, they are expected to behave according to the school’s standards as even when they are not on school grounds. Many schools stipulate that when students are in their school uniforms, they are not allowed to smoke (inside or outside school campus), to hold hands, to go to the Cinemas, amusement arcade or horse race betting places etc.. At worst, student can be expelled from school if caught smoking by school teachers. In addition, if student’s behaviour or attitude is unacceptable by school and is expelled from school, it is grounds for an early return (ER) immediately.
In Hong Kong schools, there are two kinds of medium of instructions, Chinese (Cantonese) and English. Only 100 of the 400 Hong Kong schools use English as the primary language of instruction but all classrooms have some use of Cantonese. Again, there is no guarantee that all AFS students will be placed in English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI) secondary schools. Some students will be placed in Chinese as the Medium of Instruction (CMI) schools. However, nearly all of the teachers and all of the students will be native Cantonese speakers, and AFS students should prepare themselves for a great deal of cantonese spoken at schools especially amongst their schoolmates. Even the few students who may be placed in English speaking schools should anticipate learning Cantonese for successful adjustment at home and in school;
Most schools in Hong Kong are divided into summer timetable and winter timetable. Summer timetable make up of eight 35-minute lessons with two short breaks, while winter timetable make up of eight 40-minutes lessons, one break and an one-hour lunch break. Schools usually run on winter timetable which start at 8:00am and finish at 3:30pm. Some schools may finish later at 4:00pm with a longer lunch break. When it is in summer timetable, schools will finish earlier. Some schools will finish as early as 1:30pm.
School runs from 1 September through either end of May or mid July depending on which form. May usually is the exams time for the Form 5 students who need to take their public exams. June is the time school have internal exams.
The majority of the secondary schools in Hong Kong will have two school terms and some will have three. There will be one exam at the end of each term. For schools that have two school terms, the first term exam will be held within 3 weeks before or after Christmas, i.e. either in December or January. The final exam will be held in June. For schools that have three school terms, the first exam will be held in November, the second term exam will be before or after Chinese New Year (usually in February) and the final exam will be in June.
Extra Curricular Activities:
School trips are not plentiful, however there are many clubs and social activities offered from within school. Students are expected to take part in some kind of school activities which usually hold after school and finish at 5:00pm on Fridays. There will be a different training schedule if students belong to school teams, such as sports, choir, orchestra…etc.
