​Following is a question by the Hon Starry Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Mr Kevin Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (February 8):
 
     The Government has implemented the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme (the Scheme) since 2017 to provide financial incentives to public sector schools (including government, aided and caput schools) to encourage them to open up their facilities such as school halls, activity rooms, playgrounds, sports grounds and classrooms during non-school hours to sports organisations for holding sports programmes. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the following information on the Scheme in the past three school years (set out by geographical constituencies for the 2021 Legislative Council General Election): the number of participating schools (and the percentage of such number in the total number of schools in the constituency), the number of schools paired up with sports organisations, the number of sports organisations paired up with schools, the number of programmes and the number of participants (set out respectively (i) the number of participating students, teachers and parents of the schools providing the facilities and (ii) the number of other participants);
 
(2) whether it has approached schools and sports organisations which have not participated in the Scheme to find out the reasons for their not participating in the Scheme; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(3) of the measures in place to encourage more schools and sports organisations to participate in the Scheme (including whether it will consider further raising the upper limit of subsidy for schools which open up their facilities and providing an insurance subsidy for sports organisations); and
 
(4) given that the Scheme has been implemented for five years, whether it will consider comprehensively reviewing the effectiveness of the Scheme (including its effectiveness in alleviating the shortage of recreation and sports venues in various districts and in encouraging students to develop a healthy sporting habit); if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     To motivate schools to open up their facilities for sports use, the former Home Affairs Bureau and the Education Bureau together launched the Opening up School Facilities for Promotion of Sports Development Scheme (the Scheme) in the 2017/18 school year. Schools are encouraged to open up their facilities, such as school halls, activity rooms, playgrounds, sports grounds, classrooms and other facilities, for use by national sports associations and their affiliated members, district sports associations, sports organisations subvented by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and other eligible non-profit making organisations to hold sports programmes during non-school hours with the aim of providing students with additional opportunities in participating in sports, encouraging them to develop the habit of exercising and fostering a stronger sporting culture in schools. The Scheme has been well received by the sports sector and schools since its launch.
 
     In consultation with the Education Bureau, the reply to the questions raised by the Hon Starry Lee is as follows:
 
(1) For the last three school years, the number of participating schools, the number of schools and sports organisations successfully paired, the number of sports programmes organised and the number of participants (attendances) under the Scheme are set out in Annex I, whereas the statistics related to the schools' participation broken down by geographical constituencies for the 2021 Legislative Council General Election are set out in Annex II.
 
(2) to (4) Since schools often utilise school facilities during school holidays to organise various events, such as school team training, uniform group training, talks, and other cultural and sports events, for their students, parents and communities, schools would generally take into consideration their circumstances and needs in deciding whether to participate in the Scheme. In general, the factors that schools would take into consideration include the available facilities to be opened up to outside organisations and the respective opening hours, security and manpower arrangements, as well as views of students, parents and other stakeholders. To encourage greater utilisation of the Scheme, we have been reviewing the operation of the Scheme at the end of each school year, based on the feedback collected from the participating schools and sports organisations. Corresponding enhancement measures have been implemented to provide added incentives for schools and sports organisations to join this Scheme. A summary of the enhancement measures implemented since the launch of the Scheme is set out at Annex III. 
 
     The Scheme has shown to be effective in encouraging schools in opening up their facilities for sports use. The implementation of the Scheme has been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and school suspension, which forced many of the planned sports programmes to be cancelled. However, as the pandemic situation eases, we expect to see an upturn in the participation of schools and sports organisations. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau and the Education Bureau will continue to review the operation of the Scheme on a regular basis so as to ensure the fuller use of public resources. We will continue to enhance the Scheme to address schools' concerns. We will also step up the Scheme's publicity so that more sports programmes can be held with the use of school facilities, allow more students to participate in sports, and promote the development of a stronger sports culture.

Ends/Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Issued at HKT 14:30

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