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The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants committee:
The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (March 28) the overall results of the Fifth Matching Grant Scheme. The Scheme ran from June 1, 2010 to March 15, 2011. The eight UGC-funded institutions, the Open University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Shue Yan University together with Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Chu Hai College of Higher Education, have secured about $2.3 billion in donations under this fifth round, and the full amount of $1 billion matching grant has been allocated.
The Chairman of UGC, Mrs Laura Cha, said, "We are very encouraged to see that the community has continued to respond to the Matching Grant Scheme with enthusiasm and generous support. The Scheme has proved to be an effective incentive to increase the momentum for developing a stronger philanthropic culture in the community towards investment in education. The UGC would like to thank the Government for the Scheme, and to congratulate all participating institutions on their success. The UGC would also like to thank all the people who have made donations to the institutions."
From 2003 to 2009, the Administration launched four rounds of Matching Grant Scheme, each of $1 billion. The first three rounds were open to the eight UGC-funded institutions, while the fourth also included two self-financing universities, namely the Open University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Shue Yan University. About $10.8 billion, comprising around $3.9 billion of government matching grants and some $6.9 billion of private donations, was secured in the four rounds of Matching Grant Scheme. To provide further support to the institutions' endeavours so as to sustain the momentum of the philanthropic culture of Hong Kong fostered by the Schemes, the Government allocated a further $1 billion in June 2010 for launching the Fifth Matching Grant Scheme. The Scheme was further expanded to include the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Chu Hai College of Higher Education.
Mrs Cha said, "With the fifth round extended to cover some other non-UGC funded institutions, we are happy to see that the community at large are very supportive of tertiary education, and smaller and younger institutions are gearing up their fund-raising capabilities to secure a reasonable share of the matching grants, while diversifying their funding sources to foster the emergence of a philanthropic culture among their donors."
The matching grants under the Fifth Matching Grant Scheme were disbursed to each institution on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis up to the "floor" amount of $45 million, beyond which $1 was granted for every $2 donation, up to a ceiling of $220 million of grant on a first-come, first-served basis. Furthermore, a "floor" amount was set aside for matching by each institution as a guaranteed minimum in the first stage of the Scheme until February 28, 2011. By the end of the first stage, funding under the guaranteed minimum which was not matched by the institutions concerned was opened up for application by all institutions - also based on the first-come, first-served principle. The final results are set out at the Annex.
Mrs Cha added, "Over the past five rounds of the Matching Grant Scheme, institutions have raised some $9.2 billion in private donations and a total of $4.9 billion of matching grants has been allocated. Institutions have done very well under the Scheme. This surely will benefit the long-term development of the higher education sector in Hong Kong."
Ends/Monday, March 28, 2011
Issued at HKT 17:00
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