The China outpost of the renowned British boarding school aims to welcome 1,500 students in Guangzhou with the project led by CTF Education Group
Benenden School, the prestigious British boarding school attended by Princess Anne, the only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II, is opening a campus in the Panyu district of Guangzhou, China in late 2023. It aims to welcome 1,500 students and is set to cost GBP£13,100 (US$17,862) per term at home.
The project will be led by CTF Education Group, a unit of Chow Tai Fook Group, as a part of its pioneering "Edumaker" ethos and visionary roadmap for education-related development in Greater China. While the school in the UK is exclusively for girls, the China outpost will cater to both boys and girls.
"Our goal is to empower the next generation to become future-ready. The Group will invest over HK$3 billion for the next few years in upcoming education projects in Hong Kong and Greater China,” said Adrian Cheng, vice-chairman and group chief executive officer of CTF Education Group. "Our vision is to build a unique synergistic education ecosystem that brings together different stakeholders and a myriad of resources to achieve greater synergy, efficiency and opportunities to drive K-12 schools and education forward with sustainable impact," he adds.
This marks Cheng's latest venture after announcing his conservation project on The State Theatre led by New World Development where Cheng serves as the executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer.
"We are delighted to announce CTF Education Group’s strategic partnership with Benenden School, a renowned British boarding school founded in 1923, to bring one of the best schools in the world to Greater China. The partnership anchors our first step in our group’s expansion and sets the tone for our goal to deliver one of the best K-12 bilingual schools in Greater China," says Jennifer Yu Cheng, deputy vice-chairwoman of CTF Education Group.
The project comes at a time when renowned British schools are slowly expanding overseas due to Covid-19. Many international students are choosing to study in their respective home countries due to travel restrictions and lockdown that has seen many families separated for a long period of time during the pandemic.
The school was also attended by other royals including Princess Basma of Jordan and Princess Benedikte of Denmark. It will be the latest addition to over 860 international schools in the Mainland, joining the likes of Harrow, Westminster and Wycombe Abbey. Guangzhou itself has 16 international schools.
"As one of the leading independent schools in the UK, Benenden is committed to significantly widening access and the opportunities available for future generations to benefit from our educational offering," says Anna Birkett, chairwoman of the governing council at Benenden.
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