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The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (September 4) that two new school premises being planned, together with two vacant school premises, would be open to applications by eligible school sponsoring bodies (SSBs) for reprovisioning existing secondary and primary schools in the Second School Allocation Exercise (SAE) 2008.
"Existing schools which are of old planning standards and designs may be incapable of infrastructure improvements due to the lack of space and other physical constraints. Through the Reprovisioning and Redevelopment Programme, the Government seeks to provide better facilities to these schools by re-housing them in newly constructed or vacated school premises, or conducting on-site redevelopment for them. The premises available for allocation in this exercise include one new primary school premises and one new secondary school premises under planning in Kwun Tong District, as well as two vacant primary school premises in Shatin District. They are open to applications for reprovisioning existing public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme schools which are in need of infrastructure upgrade," an EDB spokesman said.
"Allocation of the school premises is on a competitive basis. Quality of education will be the prime consideration in assessing schools' reprovisioning applications. Factors to be considered include the operation track record of the school proposed to be reprovisioned, the school plan after relocation and the physical condition of the school's existing premises. In general, we believe that schools with a site area less than 3,000 square metres and premises over 30 years old, without having benefited or having only marginally benefited from the School Improvement Programme, will warrant our serious consideration, though this is not a prerequisite for the submission of applications since each case has to be assessed on its merits. In addition, the location of the applicant schools, i.e. whether they are currently operating in the same district as the location of the new/vacant school premises, will be taken into account.
"In line with the established arrangement for reprovisioning projects, the successful applicant will be required to surrender its existing school site to the Government in accordance with the lease condition upon relocation," he added.
All applications will be considered by the School Allocation Committee comprising an equal number of official and non-official members. The applicant SSBs are required to complete a reprovisioning application form and submit it together with the required supporting documents, and a proposed school plan (of not more than 10 pages including all annexes plus a two-page executive summary) covering the vision and mission, management and organisation, learning and teaching, school ethos and support for students, performance targets and self-evaluation indicators. The applicant SSB may also make reference to other school(s) that it is operating and the respective performance of the school(s) to substantiate its case.
In line with the EDB's established policy for school allocation, the applicant body should be a charitable institution or trust of a public character exempted from tax under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, and is:
(1) incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, with its memorandum and articles of association containing all the standard clauses and articles required for allocation of a school; or
(2) incorporated under other ordinances, with its constitution satisfying the Permanent Secretary for Education as being fit to be considered for allocation of a school.
Application forms for the Second SAE 2008 and other reference materials can be downloaded from the EDB homepage, (www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=246&langno=1). More information on this school allocation exercise can also be found on the homepage.
Applicant bodies are required to submit to the Infrastructure and Research Support Division (Room 1427, 14/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong) by October 17, 2008, one copy of their application form and the supporting documents, together with 15 copies of the proposed school plan and executive summary.
For enquiries, please call 2892 5436 or 2892 6391.
Ends/Thursday, September 4, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:37
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