EDUCATION
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Student Finance
The Student Financial Assistance Agency administers several publicly funded schemes which ensure that students are not denied access to education due to a lack of means. It also administers privately funded scholarships awarded on the basis of academic merit. These schemes are described below.
Student Travel Subsidy
Needy students aged between 12 and 25 who have not yet completed their full-time study up to first degree level may apply for a travel subsidy to cover part of their study-related expenses. In the 1996-97 academic year, $244.2 million was disbursed to 186 898 eligible students.
Textbook Assistance
Needy students attending public sector schools from Primary 1 to Secondary 3 may apply for a grant to buy essential textbooks and stationery. In the 1996–97 academic year,
$101.4 million was disbursed to 157 240 students.
Fee Remission
Needy Secondary 4 to 7 students in public sector schools may apply for remission of half or all of their standard school fees under the Senior Secondary Fee Remission Scheme. In the 1996-97 academic year, 90 037 students were granted fee remissions amounting to $272.5 million.
The Kindergarten Fee Remission Scheme provides assistance to eligible kindergarten pupils, in the form of 50 or 100 per cent of the average of fees charged by non-profit-making kindergartens. In the 1996-97 academic year, $243.8 million was granted to 60 217 kindergarten pupils.
Local Student Finance Scheme
Full-time students studying eligible courses in all UGC-funded institutions, the two technical colleges of the VTC and the Prince Philip Dental Hospital may apply for assistance under the means-tested Local Student Finance Scheme which provides loans to meet living expenses and grants to cover tuition fees, academic expenses and student union fees. In the 1996-97 academic year, $968 million in grants and $945 million in loans (including $65 million in extended loans) were provided to 37 502 needy students.
To review the cost-effectiveness and efficiency of the Local Student Finance Scheme, the Student Financial Assistance Agency commissioned a consultancy study on the scheme which completed in May 1996. The Joint Committee on Student Finance studied the consultants' proposals and recommended a package for improving the efficiency, fairness, transparency and integrity of the scheme, including the introduction of a non-means tested loan scheme to be implemented in the 1998-99 academic year.
Student Finance Assistance Scheme
The Hong Kong Shue Yan College is a privately-funded institution and does not receive any direct government subsidy, but financial assistance is available to eligible full-time students of the college in the form of grants and loans. In the 1996-97