Direction and priority themes of Quality Education Fund announced
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The Chairman of the Quality Education Fund (QEF) Assessment and Monitoring Sub-committee, Dr Brian Lo, today (March 20) announced the direction of the QEF and the 11 priority themes for the 2017/18 QEF applications, as well as the application procedures.
Dr Lo said that since its introduction in 1998, the QEF, working in line with the education development and policies in Hong Kong, had been catering to the needs of various stakeholders and facilitating collaboration among tertiary institutions, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and schools to enhance the quality of school education.
Dr Lo said, "As we approach our 20th anniversary next year, the QEF, capitalising on its solid foundation, will continue to play an important role in consolidating, disseminating and sustaining the good practices of quality school education to promote whole-person development and life-long learning among our students."
Under the 11 priority themes, the QEF will focus on encouraging applications relating to the following aspects in 2017/18: (1) promoting Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics education and innovation, and using e-learning to facilitate learning and teaching; (2) enhancing students' language proficiency; (3) kindergarten education; (4) enhancing students' knowledge and learning motivation in Chinese history and culture as well as the Basic Law, and promoting student exchange activities on the Mainland and in countries/cities along the Belt and Road; (5) strengthening support measures for specific student groups, including non-Chinese speaking students and students of less favourable socio-economic status; and (6) promoting mental health activities to support students with relevant needs, while continuing to nurture positive values in students. In all these aspects, cross-sector collaboration among tertiary institutions, professional organisations and other organisations will be encouraged.
"We have noted that many schools and organisations have tried out various innovative ideas or learning and teaching plans with funding from the QEF. The QEF will continue to support school-based innovation and also the adaptation/enhancement of existing practices in schools so as to address schools' specific needs. In addition, we will encourage tertiary institutions to conduct research and development projects of various types and scales in order to foster more pioneering and evidence-based practices for the reference of or application by the education sector," said Dr Lo.
In addition, the QEF will continue to enhance communication and partnership with various stakeholders to create and share successful QEF experience. In continuing the implementation of the QEF Thematic Networks for knowledge transfer and sustainable professional development of teachers, the QEF will expand the scope of the Thematic Networks to include initiatives not funded by the QEF, as well as well-established good practices gained by schools, in order to promote professional exchange and collaboration over quality education.
The 11 priority themes cover areas to which the QEF will give priority consideration in assessing proposals. Elaboration on the respective priority themes is given to facilitate the preparation of proposals. The QEF accepts applications all year round, with the amount of grant subject to individual projects. Each school and college/faculty/centre under an individual tertiary institution can apply for up to five projects (including two mini applications with grant/s sought not exceeding $150,000) in each school year, whereas organisations and individuals can apply for up to four projects (including two mini applications with grant/s sought not exceeding $150,000).
The 11 priority themes for 2017/18 are:
Areas Priority Themes
Learning * Catering for Learners' Diversity
and Teaching * Effective Learning and Teaching of
Languages
* Enhancing Learning and Teaching, and
Assessment Literacy with a view to
Enhancing Student Learning Outcomes
in Primary General Studies, Key
Learning Areas/Subject Curricula and
Liberal Studies
* Using e-Learning (IT) for Effective Learning
* Values Education
* Creative Arts and Culture Education
Support for * Healthy Lifestyle and Positive
Students and Development of Students
School Ethos * Support for Students with Diverse Needs
* Promoting Whole Child Development
in Kindergarten Education
Management and * Supporting Effective School
Organisations Management and Leadership
* Teacher Development and Wellness for
Promoting Schools as Learning
Organisations
To familiarise potential applicants with the new priority themes and application procedures, the QEF Secretariat will organise targeted briefing sessions for the following groups:
* kindergartens (April 6, am);
* secondary schools, special schools and school sponsoring bodies (April 11, am);
* NGOs (April 27, pm);
* primary schools, special schools and school sponsoring bodies (May 2, am); and
* tertiary education institutions (May 4, am).
Details of the application procedures will be uploaded to the QEF website (qef.org.hk) on March 24. Apart from briefing sessions, the QEF Secretariat will organise regular proposal-writing workshops and an increased number of individual consultation sessions for prospective applicants pertaining to the preparation of proposals. The public can make reference to proposals of the funded project via the QEF Cyber Resource Centre (qcrc.qef.org.hk).
Since its establishment in 1998, the QEF has supported over 9 100 projects and granted over $4.2 billion, bringing about successful innovative ideas, practices and experiences to raise the quality of education. The QEF processed 601 applications in the 2015/16 school year, of which 152 were approved, with grants ranging from about $30,000 to $4,839,000 and totalling around $68.5 million.
QEF deliverables, such as teaching and learning resources, can be purchased at 43 designated bookstores or ordered by mail or online at the QEF website and Hong Kong Education City (www.hkedcity.net). The QEF has also identified good projects for developing electronic deliverables with interactive functions to facilitate self-directed learning. So far, over 100 sets of electronic deliverables have been developed. The public can access these deliverables via the QEF Cyber Resource Centre and Hong Kong Education City.
Ends/Monday, March 20, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:20
Issued at HKT 16:20
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