The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:
 
     The Chairman of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Mr Carlson Tong, today (February 28) welcomed the Financial Secretary's proposal in the 2018-19 Budget to allocate $2.5 billion to launch the Eighth Matching Grant Scheme for 10 publicly funded post-secondary education institutions.
 
     Mr Tong said, "I am very glad that the Government has committed to further investing in higher education, which is crucial for enhancing the quality of education and cultivating our future generations. Considering the success of the previous rounds of the Matching Grant Scheme, I believe that another round will help sustain institutions' momentum in securing private donations and other sources of funding to support their growth.
 
     "With the more mature philanthropic culture of the community towards investment in education, I am confident that institutions will be able to fare well in securing more funding for the benefit of our students and continued development of the society."
 
     Mr Tong added, "The Matching Grant Scheme was launched in 2003. Over the past six completed rounds of the Matching Grant Scheme, institutions have raised some $14.8 billion in private donations and a total of $7.4 billion in matching grants has been allocated. Institutions have achieved very encouraging results under the Scheme. I believe this will without doubt benefit the long-term development of the higher education sector in Hong Kong."

Ends/Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Issued at HKT 15:30

NNNN