CHAPTER 9
Education
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An Overview
HONG Kong's most important long-term social investment is education. The Government has been investing heavily in education and in cultivating talent for the future. In recent years, resources allocated to education have continued to rise significantly despite overall budgetary constraints. Approved public recurrent and total spending on education in the 2000-01 financial year amounted to $45.2 billion and $54.4 billion respectively, representing 23.2 per cent of the Government's total recurrent expenditure and 22.3 per cent of the total public expenditure. Tertiary education accounts for about one-third of the education budget. Total spending on education now represents 4.25 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.
Hong Kong provides nine-year free and universal basic education. All students between the ages of six and 15 are entitled to free school places. In 2000, 92.1 per cent of the students who had completed Secondary 3 received their senior secondary education or vocational training at substantially subsidised rates. Of the relevant age group, 18 per cent are enrolled in university education. About 1.29 million students, or 19 per cent of the total population, were in full-time education during the year.
The year 2000 marked an important milestone in education. The Education Commission, following a three-stage public consultation, completed a comprehensive review of the education system in Hong Kong. The overall objective of the review is to enable students to have all-round development as well as the attitude and ability for lifelong learning so that they could rise to the challenges in the new millennium. In September, the commission submitted to the Administration the report entitled Reform Proposals for the Education System in Hong Kong. The Chief Executive in his Policy Address in October accepted all the reform proposals put forward by the Education Commission for the education system, including the academic structure, the curricula, the assessment mechanism and the interface between different stages of education. The Government has embarked on the implementation of the reform
measures.
The Government continues to promote school-based management. Schools are given more flexibility in the use of resources and curriculum practices. The Advisory Committee on School-based Management conducted extensive consultation on a more participatory and accountable school-based management framework, and is considering the way forward in the light of the views received.
The year also saw the Education Department embarking on a reform of its organisational and management structures, taking into account the recommendations of a management consultancy and views received through public consultation. The