We hear you ..

Dear everyone,

The number of readers of this blog has been increasing day by day. Its very heartwarming to see the support we've been getting from all over the world. We have readers from Belgium, to Japan and even as far away as Australia and Singapore.

Thank you all for the words and gestures of support and encouragement.

One feedback we've been getting and which we are looking into is about the school fees.

Understandably, 45,000 CHF for 2 years including tools in a big sum of money and a major investment to many. Furthermore, it can be quite a deterrent to many people who are interested but are unable to afford the fees.

I hope everyone would understand our position. Unlike WOSTEP or SAWTA programmes, we do not get yearly donations nor regular cash support. Ulysse Nardin has already supported us in very big ways by providing us with tooling, management expertise and un-parallel encouragement. Therefore, all the fees go into a salary for Henrik and his assistant. And i hope everyone keeps in mind that KHWCC can only take a maximum of 4 students at this point of time. Even then, he does not take the full amount personally. He pays himself a very modest salary ( actually its quite minimum ) and he sinks the rest of the fees into maintaining the school and buying new equipment. ( Actually, the equipment is really expensive. You can't use normal lathes or tools for watches. ) He does not have an administrative team supporting him and he essentially handles everything by himself. He is quite the Swiss Army Knife in the school because he is the main Teacher, the secretary, the housing/accomodation clerk and the accountant. He wants to ensure that students get the most out of the course and thats why he has decided to bear the administrative burden to ensure that money is only spent on equipment and the students.

However, due to overwhelming responses and a number of enquiries, KHWCC is in the process of reviewing its Fee structure. The school is also going to actively embark on finding donations and cash injections in an aim to lower school Fees.

We hope to be able to lower the Fees in the future and increase the intake but because our priority now is the education of watchmaking which we are able to maintain very confidently and comfortably, other problems/issues will need to take a backseat but KHWCC is working on it.

So, please keep the feedback, comments, criticisms coming.

Yes, even criticisms because thats how we can improve !

:)

Blog Admin