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Expression of Interest for Taking over Sponsorship
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     The Education Bureau (EDB) today (June 3) invited expression of interest for taking over sponsorship of Pegasus Philip Wong Kin Hang Primary School cum Junior Secondary School in Yau Tong Estate, Kwun Tong District.

     ¡§Following the notification of the school sponsoring body concerned to give up its right to operate the school, there is a need to identify another party to take over its sponsorship to ensure continued operation of the school in a smooth manner as soon as possible.  The expression of interest exercise is convened for this purpose, and is a preparatory step for a School Allocation Exercise being planned for selecting the takeover school sponsoring body for the school,¡¨ a spokesman for the bureau said.

     ¡§The takeover school sponsoring body is expected to place emphasis on continued smooth operation of the school. In this connection, any school sponsoring body which is interested in taking over the school should undertake to continue operating the school under the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS), with minimal changes to the existing mission and vision of the school as well as the curriculum.  The school fees to be charged for the 2009-10 school year should be no higher than that for the 2008-09 school year.  The sponsoring body should also undertake to take up the entire existing staff of the school for the 2009-10 school year as far as possible and all existing students (including those who have already been admitted to Primary 1 level of the school for the 2009-10 school year) apart from those outgoing Secondary 3 students.  As in the case of applying for new DSS schools, the sponsoring body will be required to bear the cost for the school's operation,¡¨ the spokesman continued.  

     ¡§Although the school is now operating Primary 1 to Secondary 3 classes, given that the school premises were purposely designed and built for a primary school, the junior secondary levels should be gradually phased out after the takeover.  Separately, when selecting the takeover school sponsoring body under the School Allocation Exercise to be launched after the close of the expression of interest exercise, we will accord priority to applicant bodies which can provide a ¡§through-train¡¨ arrangement for the school with an existing DSS secondary school,¡¨ the spokesman said.

     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.

     ¡§After the close of the expression of interest exercise, we will only invite those eligible school sponsoring bodies which have responded to the expressions of interest and fulfil the two established criteria as stated in the preceding paragraph to submit detailed school proposals.  Details about the requirement of the school proposals will be given then.¡¨

     The reply form for the expressions of interest exercise is provided at Annex.  The reply form and other reference materials can also be found on the EDB homepage (http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=246&langno=1).  Interested school sponsoring bodies are required to express interest by submitting the completed reply forms in person to Room 1427, 14/F, Education Bureau, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen¡¦s Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong before 5pm next Monday (June 8).  Interested sponsoring bodies are also requested to note that a briefing session will be held for them at 11am on Friday (June 5) at Room 1023AB, 10/F, Education Bureau, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen¡¦s Road East, Wan Chai.

     For registration for the briefing session or other enquiries, please call 2892 5436 or 2892 6391.

Ends/Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Issued at HKT 14:13

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