***************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Man-kwong and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (May 21):
Question:
Regarding the Government's provision of recurrent subsidies to direct subsidy schools (DSSs), will the Government inform this Council:
(a) as the Government determines the amount of recurrent subsidy for a DSS on the basis of the "average unit cost" of an aided school place, of the respective expenditure items of aided primary and secondary schools which have been excluded from the calculation of the average unit cost; and whether the Government has, in the calculation of the average unit cost of an aided school place, included the expenditure incurred by the Social Welfare Department for the provision of grants covering schooling expenses to students on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance; if not, of the details and reasons for that, and whether it has assessed if such a practice will make the amount of subsidy received by a DSS actually lower than that of an aided school;
(b) whether it has assessed whether and how the implementation of the new senior secondary academic structure will affect the amount of recurrent subsidy allocated to a DSS; and
(c) as the Education Bureau calculates the recurrent subsidies for DSSs on the basis of the average unit cost of an aided school place in the previous school year, whether the Administration is aware that the additional expenditure incurred for the preparation for the new senior secondary academic structure, such as teacher training, by aided schools will only be reflected in its grants to DSSs in the next school year; whether the Administration will consider providing the additional subsidies required for the preparation for the new senior secondary academic structure concurrently to aided schools and DSSs, so as to avoid DSSs having to face financial difficulties as a result of such additional expenditure?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The recurrent government subsidy payable to DSS schools is calculated in terms of average unit cost of an aided school place. The amount of subsidy has reflected the general subsidies provided for aided schools by the government, such as subsidy for staff salary, expenses on Provident Fund and grants for class, subject and curriculum. Other than the above-mentioned subsidies, eligible DSS schools meeting the prescribed criteria can also apply through the same mechanism in aided schools for other subsidies including rates and government rent reimbursement, Capacity Enhancement Grant, Grant for School-based After-school Learning and Support Programme, School-based Support Scheme Grant for Newly Arrived Children, Special One-off Information Technology Grant, Grant for Whole-school Approach to Integrated Education Programme, Project Grant to Resource Schools on Whole-school Approach, Grants to Support the Establishment and Operation of Incorporated Management Committee, Special Grant for Designated Schools in Support of Non-Chinese Speaking Students, Intensive Learning Support Grant (only applicable to primary schools), Mortgage Interest Subsidy, Grant for Small Class Teaching Scheme in Primary Schools with High Concentration of Disadvantaged Students (only applicable to primary schools), Applied Learning Grant (only applicable to secondary schools) and Grant for Yi Jin/Secondary Schools Collaboration Project (only applicable to secondary schools). As these subsidies are not applicable to all schools, they are not calculated in the average unit cost of an aided school place.
In the calculation of the average unit cost of an aided school place, the expenditure incurred by the Social Welfare Department for the provision of grants covering school fee and other schooling related expenses to students on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance is not included. It is because the grants are provided to the recipient's family direct for payment of schooling expenses which are not related to the income and expenditure of schools. Hence, the recurrent subsidy received by a DSS school will not be affected.
(b) The recurrent subsidy payable to DSS schools is calculated in terms of the average unit cost of an aided school place. The provision for aided schools under the new senior secondary academic structure will be taken into account in computing the average unit cost of an aided school place and the recurrent DSS subsidy applicable to that school year in accordance with the prevailing practice. As there is no concrete figure at this stage, the Education Bureau has difficulty in making precise assessment on the impact.
(c) It is not true that the additional expenditure incurred for the preparation for the new senior secondary academic structure, such as the Teacher Professional Preparation Grant which was made available to schools commencing 2006/07 school year, is reflected in the grants payable to DSS schools only in the next school year. The grant was included in calculating the projected DSS unit subsidy rate for 2006/07 and was disbursed concurrently with aided schools in October 2006. Expenses of new measures or grants to be provided for the preparation of the new senior secondary academic structure in aided schools will be provided to aided schools and DSS schools concurrently in the same school year. The Education Bureau will make adjustments according to the actual average unit cost of an aided school place after the school year ended. Generally speaking, the adjustment is not significant and will not make DSS schools having to face financial difficulties.
Ends/Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:18
NNNN