Not only not have to most probably won't be able to attend school. Compulsory schooling is until the age of 16. By the time you will get here he will have outgrown it. This means that the state is no longer responsible and that you will have to pay for any Kind of schooling. Honestly it's not an age where I would change country never mind continent and throw in a new language. Stay until he has finished his schooling and then let him go to University. By then he will be an adult. Still do the Adoption but don't move him!
Depends, it can be as low as 14 for those born late in the year, such as my daughter born in November.
Not true, non-obligatory schooling is also free.
Tom
Yes, he will be done with school by the time we move. He is learning (high) German to prepare himself (just like the rest of us). We even have a Swiss german course that we will start at some stage (but well before we move).
I think I am on the right path now, thank you all for your input.
And regarding school, the two little ones will be around 4 and 5 1/2 by the time we move. The 5 1/2 year old should be ready for 2nd year of kindergarten, starting school one year after we move. But things could change, maybe we will move already next year (so he could start already 1st year of kindergarten)
There will be courses like this for 'your' then 16/17 year old (probably varies on the Gemeinde or Kanton you move to). In this example from Stadt ZH 'Berufsvorbereitungsjahr Sprache & Integration': https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/ssd/de/...tegration.html
a 15 year old having gone through the HK system will basically be at the same level as a 23 year old Swiss university student anyway
Well ... they are good at memorising in Hong Kong (I am suffering that myself at the moment in some related area). The Asian way of studying something to death by memorising almost all there is about it to "learn" it. Not really much of understanding it, but being able to quote figures, lists, procedures, names ... static information like trivia, while not really understanding it as much.
That would be one of the several reasons leaving Hong Kong. Just one of several.