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The German International Abitur offered by German Swiss International School helps students develop a broad range of skills in a bilingual learning environment.
arents considering an international education for their children in Hong
Kong have more choices than ever, with the Education Bureau reporting the number of available places rising over the past six years, from 41,106 in 2015-16 to 46,388 in 2019-20.
Institutions offering the Swiss-based International Baccalaureate (IB) or the British International A-levels and IGCSEs have long established themselves as alternatives to the city’s official Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE). But as options expand, for those looking for an equally recognised accreditation but with a dual-language learning experience, there is the German International Abitur (DIA), offered exclusively by German Swiss International School (GSIS).
“German education looks more at a broad horizon with the subjects, and it’s very much oriented also to the sciences and mathematics,” says Ulrich Weghoff, principal of GSIS. “The idea of the German school has changed.”
Unlike more than 50 years ago, German education in Hong Kong no longer caters solely for German students, who were the children of businesspeople and diplomats. The current curriculum was developed in 2005, allowing up to half of the classes to be taught in a foreign language, and became available in Hong Kong in 2009 at GSIS. Selection of at least 11 subjects is more than is available to students with the IB Diploma Programme, which requires only six.
Students in their final two years at GSIS take up at least two science subjects and advanced maths. They are also required to choose between religious studies and ethics, which deputy principal Grit Cichon says encourages critical thinking while fostering an appreciation of a diversity of views.
For non-German-speaking students who choose to join the programme later on,
GSIS has a fast-track programme that allows them to integrate into the German International Stream in the second year of secondary school, and will launch the similar “CLIPPY” programme for primary students.
Weghoff says the DIA holds an advantage over other international curricula such as IB programmes because it employs multiple mediums of instruction.
“With a bilingual subject,” says Cichon, “we have a 50 per cent German component and 50 per cent English.”
Weghoff says that, with Germany being one of the world’s largest economies, being bilingual and able to speak German offers substantial advantages, and the DIA opens doors to universities in German-speaking countries, many of them offering free tuition for DIA graduates.
Most GSIS graduates in the German International Stream go on to study subjects such as engineering and medicine at universities in Britain, Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, while about a third seek further education in the United States and Canada.
“Any university that gets an applicant with the German International Abitur knows they are getting a bilingual applicant, someone who is fluent in both languages,” says Cichon.
Weghoff adds that prestigious universities, especially Ivy League schools, look for graduates with mixed cultural backgrounds. “Students with the German International Abitur stand out from the hundreds and thousands of IB and A-level graduates.”