Book Subsidy Just An Initial Step: Ip Kin-yuen

Education sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen said on Thursday that financial aid to government schools to promote reading among students is only an initial step and teachers and parents have a key role to play in making the programme a success.

Ip said teachers, especially those who teach languages, should take a leading role in this. Parents also should show their children how reading can be an enjoyable habit, he said.

"We are quite successful in drilling students' reading ability, but we should put more attention on how to promote their interest," he said.

Ip also said students are doing a lot of work for tests like the TSAs and have very little time to read.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam on Tuesday said government-run primary schools will each receive an annual subsidy of HK$40,000, while secondary schools will get HK$70,000 from the next academic year. The previous administration had stopped the programme last year.

Ip welcomed the decision, but said schools have to spend the funds on books and not use them to add personnel. He said the government should review the programme from time to time and increase the subsidy amount if its found to be inadequate.

Ip told RTHK's Janice Hui that schools themselves can add their own resources to make the programme a success.