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The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (October 24) that one new 30-classroom secondary school premises and two new 30-classroom primary school premises under planning are now open to applications by eligible school sponsoring bodies (SSBs) for reprovisioning existing secondary and primary schools in the territory in the Fourth School Allocation Exercise (SAE) 2014.
"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 rehousing them in newly constructed or vacated school premises, or conducting in-situ redevelopment for them. The premises available for allocation in this exercise include one new 30-classroom secondary school premises and one new 30-classroom primary school premises in Kwun Tong District as well as one new 30-classroom primary school premises in Sham Shui Po District. This exercise is open to applications for reprovisioning of existing public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme primary/secondary schools which are in need of infrastructure upgrades," 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 site area of 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, and the location of the applicant schools, i.e. whether they are currently operating in the same district as the location of the new school premises, will be taken into account, though these are not prerequisites for the submission of applications since each case has to be assessed on its merits.
"In line with the established arrangement for reprovisioning, the successful applicant will be required, upon allocation of the new premises for relocation, to return its existing school premises. For those schools currently located within a private lot under the ownership of the SSB, the school or a third party related to the SSB/school, the relevant private land owner will be required to surrender the existing school premises and site to the Government in accordance with the lease condition," he added.
All applications will be considered by the School Allocation Committee comprising official and non-official members. The applicant SSBs are required to complete an 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, student performance target and self-evaluation indicators. The applicant SSBs may also make reference to the other school(s) that they are operating and the respective performance of the school(s) to substantiate their cases.
In line with the EDB's established policy for school allocation, when submitting the application, the applicant body should be exempted from tax under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, and be:
(1) incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, with its articles of association containing all the standard texts required for allocation of a school premises; 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 premises.
Application forms for the Fourth SAE 2014 and other reference materials can be downloaded from the EDB homepage (www.edb.gov.hk/en/sch-admin/sch-premises-info/allocation-of-sch/index.html). More information on this SAE can also be found in the homepage.
The duly completed application form and supporting documents, together with 19 copies of the proposed plan and executive summary, should reach the Infrastructure and Research Division of the EDB (6/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong) on or before 5pm on November 24, 2014. Late or incomplete applications, as well as applications via email, will not be processed.
For enquiries, please call 3509 8413 or 3509 8411.
Ends/Friday, October 24, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:51
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