ESF hit over IB row 'crackdown'

West Island School cracked down on students who complained about its arrangements for International Baccalaureate exams, which end today, students claimed.

The school's principal, Christopher Sammons, called students' parents at night, saying their children showed signs of "poor mental health," they said.

The underlying tension between students and teachers at English Schools Foundation schools began late last month after the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate body rejected a students' petition for this year's exams to be canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

In February, IB announced it would adopt a dual route this year and allow students in regions hit hard by Covid-19 outbreaks to be exempted from taking the exams.

However, Hong Kong students, including year 13 ESF students, had to continue with traditional exams.

Local students launched petitions urging the IB to cancel the exams as their studies had also been affected by the pandemic, especially after a new South African Covid-19 variant was detected. They also asked their schools to put pressure on IB into rethinking the decision, a request turned down by ESF.

ESF students later told The Standard that some students who spoke out and complained about the IB exam arrangements were targets of a "crackdown" by their schools.

"At West Island School, for example, students had written e-mails to staff members regarding their concerns that the exam route would be unfair relative to the non-exam route school-based assessments, but they were not replied to," one student said.

Instead of talking to the students involved, the school reached out to their parents instead.

"Parents were phoned on their personal cellphones close to or past 10pm by WIS principal Christopher Sammons, who said their son or daughter was too intimidating to reply to or engage with, and that they showed signs of poor mental health."

The student added Sammons said the school could provide mental health counseling for students with "poor mental health."

There was no unified response from the seven ESF secondary schools on student complaints about the IB exam arrangements, the student said.

For example, teachers at King George V School in Ho Man Tin empathized with students over their frustrations regarding exam arrangements they regarded as unfair.

"The teachers stated that they were doing what they can to appeal the IB decision for the exam route," the student said.

In a response to The Standard, the ESF said it "very much values student voices and participation" across all ESF schools.

"We engaged directly with students to address their concerns relating to the recent IB examination issue. This engagement included discussions with our student leaders from our ESF student council.

"We listened carefully to the feedback and advice from our students and this very much informed our overall approach," it said in a statement. "Together with colleagues in schools, our aim was to clarify the matters of concern and provide reassurance to our students - enabling them to focus on their examinations."