School Building

In order to bring facilities in existing schools (built to old planning standards) up to date for modern learning and teaching, a school improvement programme was started in 1994. So far, improvement works for 389 schools have been completed. The aim is to complete the programme covering some 820 schools by the 2004–05 school year.

Quality Education Fund

The Quality Education Fund was established in January 1998 with an allocation of $5 billion from the Government. Its objective is to provide financial support for worthwhile initiatives in basic education, i.e. pre-primary, primary, secondary and special education in Hong Kong. The projects funded include those for the furtherance of effective learning, all-round education, school-based management, education research, application of information technology in education and schemes that recognise excellence in the performance of schools. The operation of the fund is guided by a Steering Committee which is underpinned by two subcommittees specialising in assessment and monitoring, and dissemination and promotion, respectively. By year-end, the fund had made five rounds of grants amounting to $2.8 billion for 4 613 projects.

    Apart from disbursing grants, the fund also promotes and disseminates good practices distilled from funded projects through various means such as experience-sharing sessions, briefings, seminars and project expositions. In 2001, the fund successfully concluded the Outstanding School Awards (OSA) scheme that aimed to give recognition to schools with excellent practices and performance, promote and disseminate schools' excellent educational practices and cultivate a quality culture within the school sector. The good practices identified in the OSA are being disseminated. As the fund entered its fifth year in 2002, it initiated a number of studies to review its operation and collect feedback from stakeholders. These studies provided useful pointers to further enhance the operation of the fund in areas such as application and assessment processes, and project monitoring. The fund is progressively putting the relevant recommendations in place.

Education Support Services for Newly Arrived Children and Youngsters

The Education Department provides education support services for Newly Arrived Children (NAC) and youngsters, including those from the Mainland, newly arrived non-Chinese speaking children and returnee children.

    The Education Department subvents non-governmental organisations in operating a 60-hour Induction Programme for NAC of school age to help them adapt to the local social and school environment. The department has also introduced a School-Based Support Scheme to help these children integrate into the local education system. Since 2000, the department has provided a full-time six-month Initiation Programme as an alternative mode of schooling for the NAC. The programme aims at strengthening basic learning skills and fostering personal development and social adaptation of the children in a real classroom environment before they enrol in mainstream schools. Teachers are advised on tailoring the curricula in the subjects of Chinese Language and English Language for Primary 1 to Secondary 3 newly arrived students.