ENG-2009 — Page 206

150 Education

Financial Assistance for Post-secondary Education

Means-tested grants and low-interest loans are offered to eligible full-time students pursuing eligible courses at UGC-funded or publicly-funded institutions. In the 2008-09 academic year, 27 472 students received $782.9 million of grants and $288.9 million of loans.

Eligible students pursuing locally-accredited, self-financing full-time post- secondary programmes are provided with means-tested grants covering tuition fees and academic expenses and low-interest loans covering living expenses. In the 2008- 09 academic year, $588.7 million in grants and $180.8 million in loans were provided to 17 597 students.

Non-means-tested loans operating on a no-gain-no-loss and full-cost-recovery basis are available to students pursuing eligible publicly-funded or self-financing post-secondary programmes, and eligible professional or continuing education courses. In the 2008-09 academic year, 23 344 people received non-means-tested loans amounting to $995 million.

Travel subsidies totalling $93.3 million were provided to 39 572 students of post-secondary institutions.

Tuition Fee Reimbursement for Project Yi Jin Students and Adult Education

All eligible students of Project Yi Jin and designated evening adult education courses may receive a 30 per cent tuition fee reimbursement. Those who pass the means test may receive further fee reimbursement.

Scholarships

The $1 billion Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Government Scholarship Fund was established to award Government scholarships on the basis of merit to outstanding local and non-local students studying in full-time publicly- funded degree or above level programmes in the eight UGC-funded institutions and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Privately-funded scholarships administered by SFAA are provided for local and overseas studies mainly on merit. basis.

Community Participation in Education

Home-school Co-operation

Founded in 1993, the Committee on Home-school Co-operation promotes positive attitudes towards home-school co-operation by encouraging the establishment of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). Up to 2009 more than 1 300 PTAs had been established. In 2009, the EDB funded the PTAs' organisation of about 2 850 school-based and district-based parent education activities.

School Business Partnership

In 2005, the EDB launched the Business-School Partnership Programme to take students out of the classroom to gain a wider perspective of society. In 2009, about