2
According to published figures, for the past 2 years
around 75,000 third formers have taken the JSEA. However by
July, third formers are numbered at around 73,000. If we work
on the official drop out rate of 5% after Form III, then there
will be a remaining 70,000 youths who would carry on to Form
IV. Presently the percentage of students remaining in school
after Form III is only 85%, but one can of course argue that with subsidized places available to all those who want it, the figure could rise to 95%. Subsidized places stand at 53,000
for grammar school and 2,000 for the Technical Institutes,
making a total of 55,000. In other words the number of
additional subsidized Form IV places required to accommodate
the estimated 95% of third formers continuing on to Form IV is
no more than 15,000 if the JSEA were to end immediately. As the
1985 JSEA has already been conducted, the earliest possible date for its phasing out is from 1986 onwards, which means that
15,000 subsidized places are needed from the 1986-87 academic
year.
If Stage V & VI of the school building programme is to
be maintained at the rate recommended in para 2.29 then the
only other way open to government is to buy in the interim 15,000 places in private schools, some of which may be unsatisfactory according to government standards, but are
nevertheless already providing at the moment unsubsidized
places to fourth formers who have hitherto failed the JSEA.
Assuming such places are bought in Form IV starting in the 1986-87 academic year, the funds required for the first year will be $33 million (at $220 per place for 15,000 places) for
the first year, and $66 million for the next two years.
Starting 1989 as the newly built schools come on stream, the
number of places in private schools will be phased down, leading to a drop in expenditure. This additional expenditure can be partly offset by an adjustment fee students pay to Form
IV and V subsidized places which is now $60 per month. It would not be unreasonable to increase this fee to $90 per month, as one is at the moment paying at least twice that for