XN000022-1995-10-10 — Page 3

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"The Administration has decided to remove the grossing-up factor in line with the current arrangement for local aided schools because in present circumstances, the demand for ESF places is consistently high and fluctuations in enrolment have been greatly reduced," he said.

The Government also considered it inappropriate to align the ESF hardship grant with that of the local sector.

"In the local school sector, needy students in S 4 and S 5 are eligible to apply for financial assistance based on a general means test.

"On the other hand, in ESF schools, hardship grant is made available to families of students suffering from sudden and unexpected difficulties irrespective of the level of class they are attending," Mr Mak explained.

At present, the ESF salary grant is based on the 'actual' salaries as calculated on the aided school salary structure.

However, ESF schools, like some local aided schools, employ a higher proportion of experienced teachers who qualify for higher points on the Master Pay Scale than teachers in the average aided school.

The Administration did not recommend any change to this grant because the calculation of the ESF salary grant is consistent with the parity of subsidy principle, as it is on exactly the same basis as the calculation of salary grant for aided schools.

"The fact that ESF schools employ a higher proportion of experienced teachers than average aided schools is not in itself an argument for departing from the principle. The Administration therefore has decided against any change to this grant," Mr Mak said.

On capital subsidy, he pointed out that at present, a grant of 80 per cent of the standard cost of a primary school and 65 per cent in the case of a secondary school was provided by the Government with the remaining cost contributed by ESF.

"The WG recommended that the funding of ESF capital projects should be aligned to that for the local aided sector.

"The Government therefore has decided that a capital grant for an ESF building project should be based on 100 per cent of the building cost to Government of a standard aided school, adjusted downwards to take into account the smaller enrolment in an ESF school.

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