- 15 ·
recommendations are considered in appendix C.
2.23 Mode of financing
In
By mode of financing there are three main
types of school: government, government-aided and private. Private
schools are subdivided into private non-profit-making schools and
private independent (formerly known as 'profit-making') schools.
government and government-aided schools, no tuition fees are charged
at the primary and junior secondary levels (although in a few cases
pupils still pay 'tong fai' – a facilities charge) and fees charged
in senior secondary and sixth forms are nominal, with generous fee-
remission schemes for the needy. Fees are, however, charged in the
English schools (q.v.) operated by the English Schools Foundation
see also section 6 of appendix D. Private schools charge economic
fees at all levels though, as explained below, fees relating to some
places are subsidised by the government. In government schools some
income is derived from tuition fees in respect of senior secondary
and sixth-form students but otherwise the government finances the full
capital and recurrent expenditure of government schools, the staff of
which are civil servants. Again apart from senior tuition fees, it
also meets the full recurrent costs of the aided schools (which are,
however, generally lower than those of the government schools because
although the aided school teachers receive the same pay as their
government school counterparts and have provident fund schemes to which
the government contributes, they are not entitled to the full fringe
benefits enjoyed by civil servants: this cost difference is very
substantial). The government also normally meets only 80 per cent of
the capital costs of the aided schools, the other 20 per cent being
financed by the schools' sponsors (religious and other voluntary
bodies), usually through donations they have received. In the case
of estate schools, however, the government now meets all the capital
costs except those relating to furniture and equipment.