TNAG-1073-FCO40-1323-Policy-of-the-Government-of-Hong-Kong-on-education-including-1981 — Page 202

- 15 ·

recommendations are considered in appendix C.

2.23 Mode of financing

In

By mode of financing there are three main

types of school: government, government-aided and private. Private

schools are subdivided into private non-profit-making schools and

private independent (formerly known as 'profit-making') schools.

government and government-aided schools, no tuition fees are charged

at the primary and junior secondary levels (although in a few cases

pupils still pay 'tong fai' – a facilities charge) and fees charged

in senior secondary and sixth forms are nominal, with generous fee-

remission schemes for the needy. Fees are, however, charged in the

English schools (q.v.) operated by the English Schools Foundation

see also section 6 of appendix D. Private schools charge economic

fees at all levels though, as explained below, fees relating to some

places are subsidised by the government. In government schools some

income is derived from tuition fees in respect of senior secondary

and sixth-form students but otherwise the government finances the full

capital and recurrent expenditure of government schools, the staff of

which are civil servants. Again apart from senior tuition fees, it

also meets the full recurrent costs of the aided schools (which are,

however, generally lower than those of the government schools because

although the aided school teachers receive the same pay as their

government school counterparts and have provident fund schemes to which

the government contributes, they are not entitled to the full fringe

benefits enjoyed by civil servants: this cost difference is very

substantial). The government also normally meets only 80 per cent of

the capital costs of the aided schools, the other 20 per cent being

financed by the schools' sponsors (religious and other voluntary

bodies), usually through donations they have received. In the case

of estate schools, however, the government now meets all the capital

costs except those relating to furniture and equipment.