By, Jenni Frazer
2 min read
It might not be the first place that springs to mind when you think of Jewish education. But 460 Shau Kei Wan Road is a pivotal address for pupils at Hong Kong’s only Jewish school, Carmel School.
Two hundred and sixty children, aged up to 14, currently attend Carmel, four of whose hard-working executive board are British ex-pats. Now, steered by its newly-appointed British head teacher, Rachel Friedmann, formerly deputy head of Hasmonean in London, Carmel, founded in 1991, has big plans for expansion.
Ambitious schemes are in place to extend the school so that it will, eventually, cater to pupils aged up to 18. It will offer the international baccalaureate, and its campus will be extended and shared with Kellett, the British international school in Hong Kong: sharing the renovation and costs will allow both schools to benefit from the most up-to-date facilities and equipment.
Hong Kong’s very remoteness from much of the mainstream Jewish world is both a drawback and a benefit. There are, it is thought, around 3,000 Jews in Hong Kong, and, says board member Jeremy Amias: “Chabad’s Rabbi Mordecai Avtzon sends his children to the school, but it is also attended by children with only one Jewish parent.”
