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The following is issued on behalf of the Education Commission:
The Chairman of the Education Commission, Dr Moses Cheng, today (February 1) welcomed the Government's increase in the expenditure and new measures on education announced in the Financial Secretary's 2012-13 Budget and issued the following statement:
"As the Chairman of the Education Commission, I am glad to note that the recurrent expenditure on education earmarked for 2012-13 is nearly $60 billion, which is a jump of 28 per cent compared with 2007-08. This fully demonstrates the HKSAR Government's strong commitment in education.
"I welcome the various new measures on education as announced by the Financial Secretary in his Budget, specifically on earmarking $1 billion to implement a new programme modelled on Project Yi Jin under the new senior secondary academic structure to facilitate multiple pathways to meet different interests and aptitudes of students. The allocation of $2.5 billion to launch the sixth Matching Grant Scheme in the post-secondary education sector will help institutions tap more funding sources to improve the quality of post-secondary education, while two separate injections of $1 billion each into the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund and Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund to establish more scholarships or award schemes will promote students' all-round development and pursuit of excellence.
"Complemented by these Budget initiatives, I trust our efforts and investments in promoting the internationalisation and diversification of the higher education sector will bear fruit, which will reinforce the position of Hong Kong as the regional education hub."
Dr Cheng added that the Education Commission will continue to contribute its advice with a view to enhancing the quality of education and nurturing talent to enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:27
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