Govt To Pump Another HK$2bn A Year Into Education

Financial Secretary Paul Chan on Wednesday said he planned to increase recurrent expenditure on education by another HK$2 billion, on top of the HK$5 billion already pledged by the Carrie Lam administration.

Chan said the extra spending will be aimed at achieving quality education, through enhancing the professional development of teachers, strengthening support for kindergartens, and supporting schools in enhancing the promotion of life-wide learning, or education in real-life settings.

Public schools will also be given HK$2 billion to install lifts to help make their campuses barrier-free.

HK$170 million will be spent on regularising a pilot scheme on promoting exchanges between schools in Hong Kong and the mainland, and more nurses will be provided for schools for children with disabilities.

There is also HK$800 million for the Gifted Education Fund in the coming financial year to enhance the development of gifted students, and another HK$800 million will be injected into the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund to increase the number of scholarships starting from the 2019-2020 academic year.

To encourage more people to continue their studies, the subsidy ceiling of the Continuing Education Fund is to be doubled to HK$20,000 per applicant. The age limits for applicants will also be raised to 70, and the authorities will make it easier for people to apply.

Chan said around 610,000 people would benefit from the enhancements.