Education | 145
been set up, their first task being to draft the Specification of Competency Standards (SCS) for their respective industries, which maps out the industry's competency requirements and performance standards under different functional areas, and provide a basis for course providers to design training programmes to meet the needs of the industries.
Adult Education
The Financial Assistance Scheme for Designated Evening Adult Education Courses, which provides subsidies for adult learners attending evening secondary courses at designated centres, saw a total of 1 465 students enrolled in the 2009-10 school year.
Quality Education Fund
Up to the end of the 2008-09 school year, the Quality Education Fund (QEF) had provided about $3.7 billion for the execution of some 7 700 projects. The Fund was established in 1998 with an allocation of $5 billion to support initiatives that promote quality education and schemes that recognise excellence in schools and teachers. The QEF also identifies good practices that other schools may adopt.
School-based Support Services
The Education Development Fund (EDF) was set up in 2004 with an allocation of $550 million to support educational reforms. The EDB provided support services, including those financed by EDF, to 325 secondary schools, 431 primary schools, 18 special schools and 128 kindergartens/kindergarten-cum-child care centres through the School-based Support Services Office in the 2008-09 school year.
The Regional Education Offices also offer support services to individual schools. Professionals from these offices work with school heads and teachers on new learning and teaching methods.
Support Measures for Non-Chinese Speaking Students
The EDB has put in place various support measures to help non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students integrate in the local education system and the wider community. Such measures include the provision of intensive on-site support and special grant to 17 designated primary and nine secondary schools in the 2009-10 school year. A supplementary guide has been developed for teaching Chinese Language to NCS students and issued to schools alongside a series of curriculum resources including Adopted School Learning Materials in the form of textbooks. Tertiary institutions have been commissioned to provide on-site support programmes and to run Chinese Language Learning Support Centres offering further support to NCS students and to train Chinese Language teachers in schools with NCS students.
Support Programmes for Needy Students
Under the School-based After-school Learning and Support Programmes, 896 schools and 153 non-governmental organisations received subsidies in the 2009-10 school year for organising after-school activities to help some 167 700 needy students improve their learning effectiveness, broaden their learning experience
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