Education | 169
Self-accreditation for Hong Kong Institute of Education
Following an Institutional Review on The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIED) conducted by the University Grants Committee in October 2003, the Government granted the institution self-accrediting status in May 2004.
School-based Management Governance Framework
The Education (Amendment) Bill 2002 was passed on July 8, 2004, enabling the school-based management governance framework to come into operation on January 1, 2005. Schools are required to establish an incorporated management committee consisting of all key stakeholders during a five-year period. The participation of key stakeholders in school governance will not only increase the transparency and accountability of school operation, but also provide a forum for better communication and exchange of views, leading to enhanced student learning outcome and continuous school improvement.
Quality Education Fund
To provide financial support for worthwhile initiatives in basic education, the Government established the Quality Education Fund (QEF) in 1998 with an allocation of $5 billion. By year-end, the fund has made seven rounds of grants amounting to $3 billion for 5 250 projects, and closed its call for the eighth round with about 1 800 applications. The fund also promotes and disseminates good practices distilled from funded projects.
The first-ever Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence (ATE) was launched by the QEF in 2004 to recognise exemplary teaching practices and to foster a culture of excellence and collaboration among the teaching profession. A total of 44 teachers were selected for the award, and a further 85 the Certificate of Merit.
Developing HK into a Lifelong Learning Society
The Government has introduced a number of initiatives in recent years to promote lifelong learning. The $5 billion Continuing Education Fund provided as much as $10,000 subsidy for those between 18 to 60 to study any approved course. By December 2004, there were over 3 700 such courses, and more than 150 000 applications have been approved.
The $400 million Skills Upgrading Scheme covering twenty industries aims to provide targeted skills upgrading training to these elementary in-service workers, and the Government subsidises 70 per cent of the course fees. As at December 15, 2004, there were 5 178 classes and over 107 905 trainees have benefited from the scheme.
The Employees Retraining Board provides retraining programmes to assist workers to adjust to the changing job requirements in the labour market. Over 800 000 retrainees have benefited from the programmes, and over 100 000 training places were offered during the year. The average placement rate of full-time placement-tied courses was about 80 per cent.