27
is not available. (The sum total of the inclusive fees charged by wholly
private institutions could perhaps be taken as a proxy for public
expenditure, though some such institutions have other sources of income:
moreover, if for any reason places could no longer be provided by the
private independent sector it does not follow that there would be sufficient
justification in all cases for public-sector provision to be made in lieu.)
Fees charged by private urban day schools vary widely, according to their
popularity: disregarding extremes, these at present vary from about $650 to
$2,250 p.a. in the kindergarten sector, for example, and from about $1,050
to $1,700 in junior secondary forms. Fees in private rural schools are
generally somewhat lower.
5.49
At the sixth-form
Revenue from education services in Hong Kong is very limited by
comparison with expenditure: as already mentioned, the levels of fee income
arising from the universities in 1983/84 (as recently increased) will be
less than 10 per cent of projected recurrent expenditure.
level, the standard public-sector fee is $800 p.a. compared (in respect of a
standard urban aided school with 24 classrooms) with a unit cost of more
than $6,000 p.a. at this level. There is a point of view within the
community that considering the total cost of education junior secondary
education should not have been made universally free in the public sector
when so many parents are clearly able (and willing if necessary) to pay
for their children's education. Similarly, it is felt by some that
tertiary level fees are unrealistically low for many of those who do not
qualify for financial assistance for a university or Polytechnic place.
5.50
A point that needs to be emphasised is that the highest single ele-
ment of expenditure in the government and aided sectors of education is staff salaries; in the 1981-82 draft estimates for Head 40 (Education Department),
funds for staff salaries account for 80.4 per cent of annually