ENG-1999 — Page 210

EDUCATION

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Fee Remission

Needy Secondary 4 to 7 students in public sector schools may have their tuition fees waived under the means tested Senior Secondary Fee Remission Scheme. In the 1998-99 academic year, 97 058 students were granted fee remissions amounting to $332.6 million. Secondary 5 and 7 students granted full fee remission are also eligible to apply for remission of their examination fees for the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination. In the 1998-99 academic year, 5811 students were granted examination fee remissions. amounting to $6.1 million.

Eligible kindergarten pupils may apply for tuition fee remission through the Kindergarten Fee Remission Scheme. Such assistance is in the form of 50 or 100 per cent of the average of fees charged by non-profit making kindergartens. $324.2 million was granted to 65 894 kindergarten pupils in the 1998–99 academic year.

Local Student Finance Scheme

The Local Student Finance Scheme provides grants and low-interest loans to needy full-time students of UGC-funded institutions, higher diploma courses offered by the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education of the VTC, the Prince Philip Dental Hospital and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. The grant is intended to cover tuition fees, academic expenses and student union fees while the loan is to help students meet their living expenses. In the 1998-99 academic year, $887 million in grants and $714 million in loans were provided to 32 806 needy students.

Non-means Tested Loan Scheme

To further assist tertiary students, full-time and part-time students pursuing publicly funded programmes, students of the Open University of Hong Kong and full-time students of the Hong Kong Shue Yan College may obtain loans to meet the payment of their tuition fees through the Non-means Tested Loan Scheme. This loan scheme is interest bearing, calculated on a no-gain-no-loss basis. It allows students to repay their loans over 10 years after their graduation. In the 1998-99 academic year, 10 417 students obtained loans amounting to $335.3 million.

Student Finance Assistance Scheme

The Student Finance Assistance Scheme provides financial assistance in the form of grants and loans to eligible full-time students of the Hong Kong Shue Yan College. It is a privately-funded institution and does not receive any direct government subsidy. In the 1998-99 academic year, 896 students received loans totalling $15.2 million. Of these, 815 also received grants totalling $6.6 million.

Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund

The fund was established to manage public donations made in memory of the late Governor, Sir Edward Youde, who died in service in 1986. It aims at promoting education and learning among the people of Hong Kong as well as encouraging research. The fund disbursed $12.5 million during the 1998-99 academic year for 864 awards, including local and overseas scholarships and fellowships, awards for disabled students, prizes for outstanding senior secondary students, and medals for best performers in public examinations. It also sponsored visits of four eminent overseas professors to Hong Kong under its 'Visiting Professorship Scheme' which

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