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Following is a question by the Hon. Leung Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mr Joseph W P Wong, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question:

Section 7 of the Education Regulations (Chapter 279, subsidiary legislation) provides that no part of any school premises shall be situated at a height of more than 24 meters above ground level. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the reasons for imposing such a height restriction; and

(b) whether the Administration will consider relaxing the height restriction so that schools can increase the number of storeys and classrooms that can be built on school premises, in order to increase the intake of students; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) Section 7 of the Education Regulations (Chapter 279, subsidiary legislation) provides that no part of any school premises, except the parapet wall round a roof playground, shall be situated at a height of more than 24m above ground level. However, the Director of Education, with the advice of the Director of Fire Services, may authorize that any part of such premises be situated at such height greater than 24m.

According to the professional advice of the Fire Services Department (FSD), the imposition of the 24m height restriction on school premises is based on the following fire safety requirements:

(i) In the case of a school fire, young students require greater care and assistance from adults in order to escape from the scene. If school premises are too tall and escape routes too long, students may not have the physical stamina required to flee to safety. Besides, it is hard to predict the behaviour of panic students in the event of a fire. Unduly tall school premises will definitely add to the confusion and danger at the fire ground.

(ii) In view of the large number of teachers and students, a fire may throw them into confusion. Apart from making use of the escape stairway, external rescue has to be carried out as well. In the past, FSD aerial ladders in general could be operated to reach a height of 30m above the ground. However, subject to such factors as the conditions on the ground, the design of buildings and the areas accessible to vehicles, fire appliances may not be able to reach and operate at the height mentioned above. To ensure that rescue and evacuation operations can be effectively carried out, it is necessary to impose a height restriction on school premises.

(b) As the majority of FSD aerial ladders can now reach 37m and a few can even reach 50m, the Education Department (ED), FSD and Architectural Services Department are jointly conducting an overall review of the relaxation of height restriction of school premises. Pending the final outcome of the review, ED and FSD will adopt a flexible approach by considering each case on its own merits and may, at their discretion, relax the height restriction of free-standing school premises. In fact, the height of primary and secondary schools adopting the latest standard design has already exceeded the original 24m restriction. These schools are designed in accordance with the advice of FSD with some of the non-teaching facilities, such as staff rooms, situated at a height of more than 24m above ground level.

The Government will complete the review of height restriction of school premises as soon as possible and will examine whether it is necessary to amend the Education Regulations to reflect the relevant requirements.

End/Wednesday, February 10, 1999

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