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Tuition fees for Hong Kong Institute of Education

The Government announced today (Wednesday) that a two-stage approach would be adopted to achieve the target of 18 per cent cost recovery on recurrent costs for fees for courses offered in the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) by 2000/01.

Under the new two-stage approach, the tuition fees for pre-service courses will increase by 20 per cent in each of the academic years 1995/96 and 1996/97 before the completion of the new permanent campus for the HKIEd in 1997, and then by about 30 per cent in each of the subsequent four academic

years.

The adoption of the two-stage approach is to make the fees more affordable to school leavers so as to encourage them to join the teaching profession.

The new fee for pre-service courses in the HKIEd will be $10,440 for the academic year 1995/96 and the indicative fees for the subsequent three years will be $12,530, $16,260 and $21,090 respectively.

The increase in fees should not cause hardship to needy students of the HKIEd who are undertaking full-time pre-service courses as they will be eligible for financial assistance under the Local Student Finance Scheme (LSFS) which is non-cash-limited and hence a more generous scheme than the Student Finance Assistance Scheme they used to be entitled to.

The grant element of the LSFS covers the tuition fees and academic expenses and will be adjusted automatically to take account of the increase in tuition fees.

"It remains Government policy that no student should be denied access to higher education because of a lack of means," a Government spokesman stressed.

The HKIEd is established to reaffirm Government's commitment to improving teacher education and hence the quality of school education. Its new permanent campus will be completed in 1997/98 and will provide upgraded

facilities for students.