HONG KONG 2005

In the 2005-06 financial year, the Government, once again, spent most on education. The approved recurrent government expenditure on education amounted to $49.1 billion (24.7 per cent of all recurrent expenditure) and total government expenditure was $58.6 billion (23.6 per cent of total expenditure).

The Education Commission is responsible for advising the Government on the overall educational objectives and policies, and coordinating the work of all other major education-related advisory bodies on the planning and development of education at all levels. The commission also advises the Government on implementation issues with important policy implications to ensure better synergy between policy formulation and implementation.

The commission has a chairman, a vice-chairman who is the Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower, seven ex-officio members and a number of non-official members. The seven ex-officio members chair the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications, the Curriculum Development Council, the HKEAA Council, the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee, the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research, UGC and the Vocational Training Council (VTC). The non-official members are mainly school heads, frontline teachers, teacher educators and parents.

The Government has been enhancing the teacher-pupil ratio in kindergartens since September 2001. The improved teacher-pupil ratio of 1:15 has been adopted for all kindergarten classes for children aged three to six since September 2004.

Parallel measures have been introduced to improve the qualifications of kindergarten teachers. All new teachers have been required to possess a Qualified Kindergarten Teacher qualification since the start of the 2003-04 school year and, since 2004-05, all kindergartens have been required to employ only Qualified Kindergarten Teachers on their teaching staff, calculated on the teacher-pupil ratio of 1:15.

Since the integration of pre-primary services on September 1, 2005, all child care centres providing services for children aged from birth to six and two to six before that date have been registered as schools and operated as kindergarten-cum-child care centres.

Quality assurance inspections have been conducted since September 2000. Kindergartens and child care centres are also encouraged to conduct school self-evaluation by using the common indicators developed for this purpose to promote a culture that values quality in the pre-primary sector.

Free and universal basic education is provided for children aged six to 15 — six years of primary education plus three years of basic secondary education. Admission to Primary 1 in aided and government schools is through a centralised system, and at the end of Primary 6 all students are provided with secondary school places.

Most secondary schools offer three-year basic and two-year senior secondary courses leading to the HKCEE and a two-year, sixth-form matriculation course leading to the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination. All Secondary 3 students who are willing and able to continue with their studies are given the opportunity to receive subsidised Secondary 4 education or vocational training. About one-third of Secondary 5 leavers may further their studies in subsidised Secondary 6 and 7 school places.

In September 2005, 373 700 children were enrolled in government and aided primary schools and 414 300 children in government and aided secondary schools. Government and aided school places made up about 90 per cent of school places. In 1999, the Government introduced various measures to facilitate the development of Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools and non-profit-making private independent schools to inject more diversity into the school system and give parents a wider choice. These measures include allocating government-built school premises to DSS schools, and allocating land at a nominal premium with a capital grant for the construction of DSS and non-profit-making private independent schools. In September 2005, there were 59 DSS schools, offering about 5 per cent of the local school places.

The first non-profit-making private independent school was opened in September 2004 and eight more are scheduled to open in phases by 2008. There are 11 senior secondary schools out of the 59 DSS schools. Senior secondary schools are operated under DSS funding to help the schools design market-led, diversified and practical courses to provide an additional education option for Secondary 3 leavers who are interested in alternative curricula.

Fifty-six international schools, including 15 schools operated by the English Schools Foundation, were operating in Hong Kong in September. These schools form an important social infrastructure to maintain Hong Kong's status as an international business centre and a vibrant cosmopolitan city. They offer different non-local curricula, namely, American, Australian, British, Canadian, French, German-Swiss, Japanese, Korean and Singaporean, and provide a total of 36 900 places.

The Government's main policy objective is to integrate SEN children into the community through coordinated efforts by non-governmental organisations with government support. The ordinary schools are encouraged to adopt a whole-school approach to support the children with SEN. They are also asked to set up a student support team to coordinate the use of various resources and design appropriate school-based remedial services for the students with SEN.

In the 2005-06 school year, 334 mainstream schools adopted a whole-school approach to supporting about 6 900 students with special educational needs or with a disability. In addition, there were 62 special schools for those with severe or multiple disabilities, of which 20 also provided boarding facilities. Together, they provided around 8 500 school places and 1 000 boarding places. Sixteen special schools also served as resource centres, providing professional and resource support for ordinary schools which had admitted students with special education needs. From 2005-06 to 2006-07, seven mainstream schools with experience in the whole-school approach will serve as resource schools on the whole-school approach to share their knowledge and practices with other mainstream schools in supporting students with SEN.

In addition, the Government also provides support services for gifted students to develop their potential, for instance through school-based support, development of resource packages, research and development projects, training courses for teachers and parents, and off-site enrichment programmes.

The Government launched Project Yi Jin in October 2000 to provide an alternative route to continuing education for secondary school leavers and adult learners. The programme aims to upgrade students' knowledge in biliteracy, trilingualism and information technology application through combining academic pursuits with practical skills training. Successful completion of the programme leads to a qualification comparable to five passes in the HKCEE for employment and continuing education purposes. The programme is run by member institutions of the Federation for Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions and has both full-time and part-time modes. In the 2005-06 school year, 4 982 full-time and part-time students joined the programme.

Drawing on the success of the project, the Government introduced a pilot scheme, the Yi Jin/Secondary School Collaboration Project, to 10 secondary schools in September 2004. The collaboration project offers the same Yi Jin programme for students who have little interest in continuing the conventional Secondary 5 curriculum. At the beginning of the 2005-06 school year, the collaboration project extended its scope with 18 secondary schools participating.

The VTC was established in 1982 to provide and promote a cost-effective and comprehensive system of vocational education and training for school leavers and adult learners to acquire skills and knowledge for lifelong learning and enhanced employability.

The VTC provides high-quality, internationally recognised full-time pre-employment education and training courses, at various levels ranging from the craftsman level to higher diploma level, through its Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, VTC School of Business and Information Systems, and training and development centres. It also operates industry-wide training schemes and a voluntary trade testing and certification scheme.

The self-funded Continuing Professional Development Centre has been set up to promote continuing professional education by providing short courses and organising professional examinations such as the Insurance Intermediaries Qualifying Examination and the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Examination.

Altogether, over 160 000 full-time and part-time places were available for the academic year 2005-06 for both school leavers and people in employment.

The Construction Industry Training Authority (CITA) runs three construction training centres and a management training centre, a trade testing centre and a safety training centre. The authority is funded by a levy of 0.4 per cent on the value of all construction works exceeding $1 million. In response to the demands of the industry, CITA offered a total of 1 960 full-time and 56 180 part-time training places in the 2005-06 training year. In addition, the authority conducts trade tests for construction workers to assess the standards of skills achieved, and certification tests for operators of construction plants.

The Clothing Industry Training Authority provides training courses for the clothing and footwear industries. It is financed by a levy of 0.03 per cent on the Free-on-Board value of clothing and footwear items produced in and exported from Hong Kong. It operates two training centres to deliver both full-time and part-time courses at technician and craftsman levels. At the beginning of 2005-06, the authority offered 600 full-time and 6 000 part-time training places for students.

Three skills centres run by the VTC prepare people with a disability for open employment or mainstream vocational education and technical training. Collectively, they offered 1 000 full-time places for the 2005-06 training year.

To upgrade Hong Kong's human capital to cope with the requirements of a knowledge-based economy, the Chief Executive announced in his 2000 Policy Address that 60 per cent of the 17 to 20 age group would have access to post-secondary education by the 2010-11 school year. As an incentive, the Government offers interest-free start-up loans, accreditation grants and land to providers of post-secondary education and new financial assistance for students.

At the start of 2005-06, around 270 full-time accredited self-financing programmes were offered by 20 post-secondary institutions, providing some 25 000 full-time intake places at sub-degree level or above. These are in addition to some 9 500 publicly funded intake places at sub-degree level offered by the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the VTC and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Hong Kong has 12 degree-awarding higher education institutions, eight of which are publicly-funded through the UGC. The other four are the publicly funded Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the self-financing Open University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Shue Yan College and Chu Hai College of Higher Education.

The UGC is appointed by the Chief Executive to advise on the development and funding of higher education and to administer public grants to the eight higher education institutions. It comprises non-local academics, local academics and local professionals and community leaders. Its secretariat is mainly staffed by civil servants.

The UGC also plays a major role in quality assurance and the promotion of international competitiveness. Its major initiatives include the Performance and Role-related Funding Scheme, which provides assurance that institutions are adhering to their roles and that they perform well in those roles, the Research Assessment Exercise and the Areas of Excellence scheme.

Each of the eight higher education institutions funded through the UGC is an autonomous statutory body with its own ordinance and governing body. They enjoy academic autonomy and a high degree of institutional autonomy, and are free to manage their own affairs within the parameters of the law. Seven of the eight are universities and the remaining one is a teacher education institution. They all have distinctive and complementary roles that reflect their varying origins, missions and the way they have responded to Hong Kong's complex and evolving needs. Following a comprehensive review of the higher education sector, the UGC is taking a more strategic approach by developing an interlocking yet differentiated system whereby the whole sector is viewed as one force both regionally and internationally, with each institution fulfilling a unique role based on its strengths.

The Administration introduced two rounds of matching grant schemes of $1 billion each in 2003 and 2005 to broaden the funding sources of the eight institutions and strengthen their fund-raising capabilities. The $1 billion matching grant was fully allocated in the first scheme, which ended in 2004, and the institutions secured a total of more than $1.3 billion in private donations. The second scheme will be completed in early 2006.

At present, 14 500 first-year, first-degree places are available in institutions funded by the UGC, equivalent to about 18 per cent of the relevant age group of 17 to 20. For the 2005-06 academic year, UGC-funded institutions have also provided an additional 840 senior year places for graduates of sub-degree programmes and people with other qualifications. A further 48 per cent of people in the same age group were given access to other local or overseas higher education opportunities (for example, sub-degree programmes, vocational training, and overseas university programmes). The overall post-secondary participation rate for the 17 to 20 age group increased from 33 per cent in the 2000-01 academic year to 66 per cent in the 2005-06 academic year.

Degrees up to doctorate level awarded locally are widely recognised by institutions of higher learning around the world. All UGC-funded institutions have well-established quality assurance mechanisms and the academic standards of their programmes are guaranteed by, inter alia, the institutions' appointment of external examiners from prominent overseas universities and colleges. The Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation validates courses and programmes offered by higher education institutions that are not self-accrediting.

The Financial Assistance Scheme for Designated Evening Adult Education Courses is implemented for adult learners attending evening senior secondary course (Secondary 4 to 7) operated by the approved course operator in designated centres, providing 3 600 places each year. The Government also subvented a variety of adult education programmes operated by non-governmental organisations, offering a total of 17 486 places.

The Quality Education Fund was established in 1998 with an allocation of $5 billion to support worthwhile initiatives that promote quality education and schemes that give recognition to schools and teachers with excellent performance. By year-end, the fund had made nine calls for applications and approved up to the eighth call a total of over $3.18 billion for 5 802 projects. In addition to funding projects, the fund also promotes and disseminates good practices distilled from funded projects through various means and collaborates with interested parties from the business sector in an attempt to leverage the market force to more effectively disseminate quality project deliverables.

In 2005, Hong Kong students continued to shine in cross-regional competitions, particularly in mathematics, science, arts and sports contests. In mathematics and physics, the Hong Kong teams netted two gold, four silver and three bronze medals in the International Mathematical Olympiad and the International Physics Olympiad. In science and technology, the Hong Kong team gained wide recognition among the competitors from other countries by winning championships in the 1st WRO International Robot Olympiad and the Odyssey of the Mind Programme. Hong Kong students also won awards in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair and the International Astronomical Union named Chan Yik Hei a star student in recognition of his outstanding performance in such competitions.

In arts and sports, students were awarded prizes in the 10th International Children's Poetry and Painting Contest, the 17th Lions Clubs International Peace Poster Contest and the Asian Bowling Federation Tour 2005.