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LCQ7: Grants approved by Hong Kong Teachers' Centre and Quality Education Fund
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     Following is a question by the Hon Hui Chi-fung and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (January 10):

Question:

     The Government has allocated funding to establish the Hong Kong Teachers' Centre (HKTC) and the Quality Education Fund (QEF) respectively. The objectives of the former are, among others, to provide a neutral environment for teachers and educational organisations to share experience, as well as to encourage them to design and try new teaching materials and teaching methods, while the latter aims to subsidise non-profit making, pioneering initiatives within the ambit of basic education (i.e. kindergarten, primary, secondary and special education), e.g. organising exchange activities and producing teaching materials. However, it has been reported that HKTC and QEF have over the years approved grants to teachers, schools and educational organisations with a predetermined political stance for them to produce printed matters with political inclination or organise related activities, raising doubts over whether public money is used properly. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the amount of grants approved in each of the past five years by HKTC involving production or publication of printed matters (e.g. teaching materials, brochures, promotional leaflets and programme booklets), and the titles of the relevant printed matters, with a breakdown of such information by name of grantee organisation (set out in tables of the same format as the table below);
 
Year:
 
Name of grantee organisation Amount of grant(s) Title(s) of relevant printed matter(s)
...    
...    

(2) of the amount of grants approved in each of the past five years by QEF involving production or publication of printed matters (e.g. teaching materials, brochures, promotional leaflets and programme booklets), and the titles of the relevant printed matters, with a breakdown of such information by name of grantee organisation (set out in tables of the same format as the table below);
 
Year:
 
Name of grantee organisation Amount of grant(s) Title(s) of relevant printed matter(s)
...    
...    

(3) of the titles of the printed matters produced or published by HKTC in each of the past five years and the amount of expenditure involved (set out in a table); and

(4) whether the authorities will review the criteria adopted by HKTC and QEF for vetting and approval of applications for grants to avoid public money being used for producing printed matters with political inclination or organising related activities?

Reply:

President,

     The Hong Kong Teachers' Centre (HKTC), established in 1989, aims to promote professional development and enrichment among teachers, and to foster professional exchange in an encouraging environment. At present, over 100 educational bodies are members of the HKTC, including the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, and Education Convergence. The management structure of the HKTC comprises an Advisory Management Committee elected by all members and a Standing Committee elected from among members of the Advisory Management Committee. The Standing Committee is responsible for the daily operation of the HKTC. Members of the HKTC can apply for the Activities Grant for organising teacher professional development activities. The HKTC accepts applications for the Activities Grant all year round. Its Standing Committee evaluates applications received, including their objectives and effectiveness, according to the established mechanism.
 
     Established in 1998 with a provision of $5 billion from the Government, the Quality Education Fund (QEF) funds various worthwhile projects that aim to raise the quality of school education and to promote quality school education at all levels. The QEF is administered under a trust with the Permanent Secretary for Education Incorporated as the trustee, who approves grants for worthwhile projects. A Steering Committee was set up under the QEF to advise the Government on the policies and procedures governing the operation of the QEF. The Assessment and Monitoring Sub-committee under the Steering Committee is responsible for assessing and approving applications. The Steering Committee and its Sub-committee assess the merits of applications according to the established assessment criteria, i.e. project needs, project feasibility and expected project outcomes.

     Our reply to the questions raised by the Hon Hui Chi-fung is as follows:

(1) Relevant information on the amount of the Activities Grant approved in each of the past five years by the HKTC involving production or publication of printed matters is set out below:
 
2012-13 Financial Year
 
Name of grantee organisation Total amount granted to activity Title of relevant printed matter
Association of Hong Kong Flag-guards $86,540 教師教學資料冊(香港回歸十五年社會發展多面睇)*
Hong Kong Private Schools Association Limited $64,000 Brochure (Conference on "Curriculum Development and Teaching" 2013)
The Secondary School English Teachers Association $99,500 Collections (Educational Research Award Scheme Reports 12/13)
The Hong Kong Professional Development Association of the Chinese Language Education $53,700 文集(提升小學中文科科主任課程規劃與管理能力計劃)*
National Education Association $68,000 教材及參考資料(世界自然遺產─丹霞山及珠璣巷尋根之旅)*
Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers $64,280 教師教學資料冊(香港與內地的融合)*

2013-14 Financial Year
Name of grantee organisation Total amount granted to activity Title of relevant printed matter
Education Convergence Education Foundation Limited $63,000 Handouts (2013 Induction Course for New Teachers)
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty/School of Education Alumni Association $99,500 Collections (Educational Research Award Scheme Reports 13/14)
The Hong Kong Primary Education Research Association $62,000 Brochure (Conference on "Curriculum Development and Teaching" 2014)
National Education Association $79,000 教材及參考資料(世界潮人之都 ─ 潮汕歷史文化探索之旅)*
Hong Kong Society of Small Class Teaching $63,300 《十年樹木:一個數學小班化教學個案研究》文集*
Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers $70,480 教師教學資料冊(國家現狀與發展)*

2014-15 Financial Year 
Name of grantee organisation Total amount granted to activity Title of relevant printed matter
Hong Kong Council for Educational Administration $58,400 Handouts (2014 Induction Course for New Teachers)
The Hong Kong Primary Education Research Association $99,500 Collections (Educational Research Award Scheme Reports 14/15)
Chinese History Education Society $62,000 Brochure (Conference on "Curriculum Development and Teaching" 2015)
Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers $70,750 教學資料冊(一國兩制在香港的實踐)*
National Education Association $78,000 教案集(世界客家之都 ─ 梅州河源文化尋根之旅)*

2015-16 Financial Year 
Name of grantee organisation Total amount granted to activity Title of relevant printed matter
Chinese History Education Society
 
$99,500 Collections (Educational Research Award Scheme Reports 15/16)
Hong Kong Association of Deputy Principals $62,000 Brochure (Conference on "Curriculum Development and Teaching" 2016)
Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers $76,100 資料冊(鑑古知今:支援教師推行歷史教育)*
Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Teachers Association $84,870 教材套(透過設計學習活動提升初中歷史科學與教)*
Hong Kong Society for Education in Art Limited $14,400 《小眼睛.看世界》續篇*

2016-17 Financial Year
Name of grantee organisation Total amount granted to activity Title of relevant printed matter
The Graduate Association of Colleges of Education Limited $15,000 資料冊(伴行計劃 2016)*
Gifted Education Council $99,500 Collections (Educational Research Award Scheme Reports 16/17)
Hong Kong Teachers' Association $62,000 Brochure (Conference on "Curriculum Development and Teaching" 2017)
Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers $99,950 資料冊(香港社會廿年來發展多面睇)*
*Titles of relevant printed matters available in Chinese only

(2) Over the past five years, the QEF approved some 1 300 applications, involving a total allocation of about $450 million. Details of these applications are available for public reference on the QEF Cyber Resource Centre (qcrc.qef.org.hk). The funded projects cover a wide range of activities with various expected outcomes. The Education Bureau does not keep statistical information on whether any printed matter (e.g. teaching materials, brochures, promotional leaflets and programme booklets) is produced or published under the funded projects.

(3) The titles of the printed matters produced or published by the HKTC in each of the past five years and the amount of expenditure involved are as follows:
 
  Financial year
Title of printed matter 2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 2015-16 2016-17
HKTC Journal $33,500 $38,800 $27,900 $27,900 $29,500
HKTC Annual Report $21,000 $21,000 $16,950 $17,200 $17,300
HKTC Bulletin (three issues per year) $20,280 $18,880 $27,600 $25,770 $26,670
HKTC Pamphlet / Leaflet $6,750 --- $6,750 $4,800 $8,000
 
(4) Details of the HKTC Activities Grant, including the procedure for application, level of grant and vetting criteria, are available on its website (www.edb.org.hk/hktc/content.aspx?id=20060612164107&lang=e). As regards the QEF, the assessment criteria and details are available on its website (qef.org.hk). To comply with the principles of fairness and impartiality, all the applications are assessed according to the prevailing assessment criteria, and are assessed and monitored by the relevant HKTC and QEF committees. As there is no question of political inclination in the assessment criteria, we have no plans to review the relevant criteria.
 
Ends/Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Issued at HKT 18:12
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