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Following is a question by the Hon Tanya Chan and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Michael Suen, in the Legislative Council today (December 14):
Question:
Recently, some parents of the primary school section of the Lingnan Primary School and Kindergarten (LPSK) have relayed to me that the primary school section of LPSK will be relocated in January 2012, yet the parents of the students of LPSK have not been informed of any detail so far. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that LPSK has indicated that it will officially close down the school campus situated at Stubbs Road in January 2012, whether the Lingnan Education Organization (the school sponsoring body) has informed the authorities of the relevant relocation arrangements; if it has, of the details;
(b) as I have learnt that the school sponsoring body has rented a campus at Cheerful Garden in Siu Sai Wan, whether the authorities know the permitted accommodation of that campus;
(c) as it has been reported that a developer has applied to the Town Planning Board for developing residential properties on the site of the former Lingnan College, and quite a number of parents are concerned whether the school sponsoring body have planned to sell the land of LPSK to tie in with the development of the aforesaid property project, whether the authorities have received any application from the school sponsoring body at present to revise the land use or land lease conditions of the site of LPSK; if they have, of the details;
(d) apart from instructing the school sponsoring body to continue to operate LPSK, whether the authorities have taken any specific measure to assist LPSK's students in continuing to attend school when LPSK insists on closing down its campus at Stubbs Road in January 2012; if they have, of the details of such measures; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e) given that the school sponsoring body is a licensed educational institution, whether the authorities will follow up the case in accordance with the existing regulatory ordinances when the school sponsoring body closes down the campus in January 2012; if they will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the issues raised by Hon Chan is as follows:
(a) The Education Bureau (EDB) has not received any notification from the School Sponsoring Body (SSB) - Lingnan Education Organization Limited (LEO) that the existing premises of its Lingnan Primary School & Kindergarten (LPS&KG) and Lingnan Day Nursery (LDN) will be officially closed in January 2012. However, the LEO has informed the EDB that for the safety of pupils and teachers, the LPS&KG and LDN may have to be relocated temporarily before February 2012 in view of the construction works that would be carried out at the ex-Lingnan College site adjacent to the schools, the existence of unauthorised building works in the building in which the Kindergarten Section (LKG) and LDN are housed, and the remedial works on the said unauthorised building works and a nearby retaining wall.
(b) In October 2011, the LEO applied to the EDB for registration of a proposed kindergarten-cum-child care centre at Cheerful Garden, 23 Siu Sai Wan Road, Hong Kong. As at December 13, 2011, the LEO has not yet submitted to the Buildings Department (BD) the updated layout plans of the said premises for approval. Due to this reason, the relevant government departments are not able to work out the permitted accommodation of the proposed kindergarten-cum-child care centre in accordance with the Education Regulations.
(c) According to our records, the LEO owns two private land sites: Inland Lot No. 2958 (15 Stubbs Road on which LPS is located); and Inland Lot No. 2939 (7 Tung Shan Terrace on which LKG and LDN are located). Neither the Lands Department nor the Planning Department has received any application from the LEO for modification of lease conditions or planning permission of the two sites.
(d)&(e) The EDB is very concerned about the LEO's request to relocate the LPS&KG and LDN on the grounds of safety of the school premises. Assessments by the government departments concerned have confirmed that there is no obvious structural danger at the two school premises, and the BD informed the LEO of the assessment results in September and November 2011. Accordingly, the EDB has advised the LEO that the relocation decision should not be directly associated with the structural safety of the school buildings, and that the SSB's request for the LPS&KG and LDN to relocate on January 31, 2012 is not fully justified. The EDB has also reminded the SSB to place pupils' interest in the first priority and consider all possible options, including demolishing the unauthorised building works and carrying out remedial works on the retaining wall during long school holidays to minimise the impact on pupils' learning.
If the school has full justification for relocation, it should first identify suitable premises and then work out a reasonable relocation timetable to minimise disturbances to pupils' learning. During the process, the school should also communicate with parents so that they are well informed of the arrangements. The EDB will continue to liaise with the SSB and the school authority to highlight the need for them to accord priority to pupils' well-being and ensure that the pupils' needs and parents' concerns are properly taken care of.
Ends/Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Issued at HKT 13:02
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