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Subsidising Early Childhood Education
43. Providing quality education for our next generation is an integral part of government support for the family. The Education and Manpower Bureau issued the Guide to Pre-primary Curriculum earlier this year, and has set up a pre-primary education support team to provide on-site support on curriculum development and education strategy with a view to upgrading the quality of pre-primary education. The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research has also allocated funds to enhance the effectiveness of English language teaching in kindergartens and to subsidise overseas training for teachers. To improve kindergarten facilities, we plan to allocate $70 million in the current school year as a one-off Capacity Enhancement Grant for kindergartens to acquire more books, a wider variety of teaching aids, computers and other teaching resources, etc. The amount of grant per student will be $500, while the maximum amount per kindergarten will be $135,000.
44. So far, we have focused on supporting the development of kindergartens. Next, we will focus our resources to support the family by easing the financial burden of parents. We will provide fee assistance to parents of children aged three to six in the form of an "education voucher", and we will rationalise all existing fee assistance schemes. Starting from the 2007-08 school year, we will provide, in the form of vouchers to parents, an annual subsidy of up to $13,000 per student, of which at least $10,000 must be used on fee subsidy, with the remaining money spent on teacher training. With the gradual upgrading of teachers' academic qualifications and corresponding increases in salaries, we plan to progressively raise the level of subsidy. By the 2011-12 school year, the annual subsidy per student will be $16,000 and will be used entirely for fee subsidy. Any local non-profit-making kindergartens that charge fees not more than $24,000 per student per annum will be eligible to redeem the "education voucher" according to their student intake. To assist parents to choose a kindergarten, all participating kindergartens will be required to provide information on their facilities and achievements, including the academic qualifications of the principals and teachers, the number of teachers and students, special features of their curriculum, and teaching arrangements. To assure teaching quality, they will also be subject to classroom inspection.
45. To implement the scheme, we estimate that up to an additional $2 billion will be required each year by 2011-12. Ninety per cent of students aged three to six will benefit from the scheme, while more than 80% of kindergartens will be eligible. We expect that within five years all kindergarten teachers will have obtained a Diploma in Early Childhood Education, while some will have obtained a university degree. We also encourage all kindergarten principals to pursue further studies and obtain a degree by 2011-12.
Gifted Education
46. The support rendered by the Government to families is not just confined to pre-primary education. Since we started to systematically promote gifted education in 2001, we have seen a growing number of exceptionally gifted local teenagers rise to fame by winning top awards in international competitions. To nurture students with exceptional potential and talent, we support the establishment of an Academy for Gifted Education. This will enhance the performance of high achievers.
47. We envisage the Academy will target students aged 10 to 18 who are either excellent academic achievers or distinguished performers in specific areas. The curriculum will be tailor-made to bring out the full potential of students. The Academy will also provide training for parents and teachers to promote the concepts and practices of gifted education. In the long run, the Academy can be developed into a platform for international exchanges as well as research and development.
48. To facilitate the development of family members and a knowledge-based society, we are steadily moving forward with our education reforms and have started to see results in various areas. Preparatory work for the introduction of the "3-3-4" academic structure has been progressing as scheduled. Students are now able to pursue continuous learning through multiple progression pathways. I have deep respect for all our frontline educators for their hard work in nurturing talent and their active participation in implementing the education reforms. We are delighted to see that in recent years generous donations for local education have been made by an increasing number of benefactors. Their lofty and visionary deeds have won wide acclaim in our community, and deservedly so.
Community and Neighbourhood
49. Mutual concern and mutual aid among neighbours is a strong support for families. We encourage community building and friendly neighbourhoods. There are individual new towns where inadequacies occurred in the course of past development, resulting in imbalances in certain aspects of community development. These imbalances meant that we were unable to provide a suitably favourable environment for the development of healthy families. Tin Shui Wai and Tung Chung are two such examples. We will pay particular attention to these districts and develop additional facilities. In Tin Shui Wai, we will be providing, among other facilities, a library, an indoor recreation centre with an indoor heated swimming pool, a football pitch, basketball courts, more open space and a general out-patient clinic. For Tung Chung, we will be providing a library, indoor recreation centres, swimming pool and other leisure facilities. To cater for the needs of Tin Shui Wai, the Social Welfare Department has strengthened its integrated services. Furthermore, the Labour Department's two job centres in Yuen Long and North District have commenced operation to provide comprehensive employment services. We welcome any views, and will actively study any proposals, to invigorate healthy economic growth in local communities. In future, the Government will allocate resources according to the different conditions in the districts, and strengthen district planning and co-ordination. In mobilising community resources and building mutual support networks at district level, the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund (CIIF) has brought about new models of collaboration. At this juncture, our heartfelt gratitude goes to the late Dr Raymond Wu, the former Chairman of the CIIF Committee, who made important contributions to this cause. He will be long remembered. We believe that with sustained efforts, continuous improvements will be made at the district level to the living conditions of families.
50. The Heung Yee Kuk has always played an important role in New Territories affairs. In particular, it has made significant contributions to preserving traditional clan and family values. To better co-ordinate our work with the Heung Yee Kuk, we have set up Home Affairs Bureau–Heung Yee Kuk Liaison Committee in mid-2006. We believe that through meetings and discussions, the distinct characteristics of rural communities will be fully considered in the formulation of public policies.
(To be continued)
Ends/Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 11:51
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