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LCQ2: Education policies
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     Following is a question by the Dr Hon Lam Tai-fai and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (July 10):

Question:

     The Chief Executive indicated in the 2013 Policy Address that "it is time to consolidate our education policies, and avoid drastic changes to give stakeholders some respite. Our future priority will be to ensure the quality of our education by further improving relevant measures in accordance with existing policies." However, quite a number of people from the education sector have pointed out to me that the education sector is facing many long-standing challenges and problems, including the declining population of secondary students, insufficient subsidized tertiary education places, the difficulties encountered by Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools in teacher recruitment, etc., but the Government's existing policies have not been able to resolve these long-standing problems. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it will draw up specific policies and a relevant timetable to resolve the problem of insufficient tertiary education places; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(b) whether it will set up a dedicated committee to review the class-teacher ratios of secondary and primary schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) whether it will set up a dedicated committee to review the functions and roles of DSS schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     All along, the Education Bureau (EDB) has been maintaining discussion with the education sector and stakeholders on education issues through different platforms and channels. We have also been enhancing education policies and the quality of education through measures like adjusting policies and increasing resources etc. where appropriate according to priorities.

     I will now reply to the three parts of the question:

(a) It is our policy objective to provide secondary school leavers with quality, diversified and flexible study pathways with multiple entry and exit points through the parallel development of the publicly-funded and the self-financing post-secondary sectors. Starting from this academic year, the number of first-year-first-degree places funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) has been increased to 15 000 per annum. Furthermore, the number of senior year places for UGC-funded undergraduate programmes is also being progressively increased to 8 000 per annum, or 4 000 intake places per annum. This will provide outstanding sub-degree graduates with more opportunities for further study.

     The Government strives to promote the development of the self-financing post-secondary sector, with emphasis on both quality and quantity, through a basket of support measures. The number of full-time locally-accredited self-financing undergraduate places has been increased to about 7 700 in the current year, while the number of self-financing senior year undergraduate places has been doubled to 6 500, from about 3 000 in the 2010/11 academic year.

     Through the implementation of these measures, our undergraduate participation is now over 30 per cent, up from 5 per cent in the 1985/86 academic year, 18 per cent in the 1995/96 academic year and 22 per cent in the 2005/06 academic year. It is estimated that in the coming two years, over one-third of our young people in the relevant age cohort will have access to degree programmes. Taking sub-degree places together, we expect that almost 70 per cent of our young people will have access to post-secondary education. These graduates will contribute to the pool of talent underpinning the future development of Hong Kong. Looking ahead, we anticipate that with a decreasing population in the relevant age cohort, the ratio of young people receiving post-secondary education will continue to rise.

(b) As I have explained in the meetings of the Panel on Education of the Legislative Council in June this year, apart from providing public sector schools with regular teachers on the establishment according to the class-to-teacher ratios, the EDB also provides schools with additional regular teachers through various specific initiatives. Besides, we have provided schools with various recurrent cash grants and target measures to allow schools the flexibility to employ additional teachers and ancillary staff.

     I wish to emphasize that the teaching staff resources which schools can deploy are not limited to the teaching staff establishment calculated according to the class-to-teacher ratios. We have never ceased implementing different measures to help sustain the development of schools, stabilize the teaching force and maintain the quality of education. All these measures have lowered the student-to-teacher ratios substantially. As a matter of fact, the general student-to-teacher ratios in public sector primary and secondary schools have been lowered from 18.4:1 and 18.0:1 respectively in the 2005/06 school year to 14.4:1 and 14.5:1 respectively in the 2012/13 school year. Furthermore, in the 2012-13 financial year, the unit costs for subsidized school places in aided primary and secondary schools have increased 47 per cent and 25 per cent respectively as compared with the 2008-09 financial year, reflecting the Government's commitment on primary and secondary education.

     At the present stage, we do not have a plan to set up a dedicated committee to review the class-to-teacher ratios of secondary and primary schools. Rather, we are happy to continue discussing the issue with the education sector, the Education Commission and the Panel on Education of the Legislative Council. We also hope that we will map out, together with the education sector, effective strategies and mechanism to enhance schools' financial management in order that schools will be more effective in bringing about the flexibility of deploying resources that the Government has provided for them and making good use of the annual resources the Government allocated to schools to support the teachers.

(c) In February 2011 the EDB set up the Working Group on Direct Subsidy Scheme (Working Group) with a view to following up the recommendations on Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) made by the Audit Commission and the Public Accounts Committee of the Legislative Council in 2010. The Working Group released a report in December 2011. The report not only reviewed the governance and administration systems of DSS schools, but also thoroughly examined the origin and the fundamental principles of the DSS policy as well as the characteristics of DSS schools. The Working Group shared the view that the policy objectives of the DSS for enhancing parental choice and enriching our education system through increasing the diversity in our school system should be maintained. Regarding the governance and administration systems, the Working Group recommended improvement measures covering various categories, including the recommendations on enhancing the transparency of fee remission and scholarship schemes and improving the eligibility benchmark in order to thoroughly take care of students with different backgrounds.

     We are of the view that at the present stage, there is no need to set up another dedicated committee to review the functions and roles of the DSS schools. We should allow reasonable time for the DSS schools to enhance their operations, including improvement of the fee remission and scholarship schemes so as to prevent DSS schools from turning to a closed system not beneficial to social mobility.

Ends/Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:03

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