ENG-2010 — Page 184

138 Education

boarding facilities. With a gross floor area of more than 100 000 square metres, the site can accommodate at least 8 000 students. An expression of interest exercise was launched in December to invite institutions, local and non-local, to indicate their interest in developing self-financing higher education institutions at the site.

The Government has also continued to invest heavily in the publicly-funded higher education sector. The Theme-based Research Scheme, financing research proposals on themes of a more long-term nature that will be strategically beneficial to the development of Hong Kong, was formally launched with the support of $4 billion of capital from the Research Endowment Fund.

Since 2003 the Government has launched four rounds of Matching Grant Scheme, each costing $1 billion, to broaden the funding sources of the higher education sector and strengthen their fund-raising capabilities. The scheme helped encourage the emergence of a philanthropic culture for the higher education sector. In view of its success, the Government launched the fifth round in June 2010, targeting the award of matching grants of up to another $1 billion and to further extend the coverage to 12 degree-awarding institutions in Hong Kong.

Progressive Implementation of the New Academic Structure

The New Senior Secondary (NSS) curriculum has been implemented smoothly from Secondary 4 since the New Academic Structure was launched in 2009. Some progress has been observed through school visits, focus group interviews and surveys on areas relating to curriculum, learning and assessment. For instance, schools have provided a broader and more balanced curriculum, and have made greater efforts to smooth the interface between the junior secondary and senior secondary levels.

The eight tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee have announced the minimum requirements for application for admission. Institutions' support of students' whole-person development was reflected in the recognition of the recording of students' achievements in the Student Learning Profile.

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) has secured international recognition of the new Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education from countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and Canada. The new qualifications guarantee smooth articulation to further studies and employment after students' completion of senior secondary education.

Enhancement of Language Learning Environment in Schools

The fine-tuned medium of instruction (MOI) arrangements commenced at Secondary 1 level in the 2010-11 school year and will progress each school year to a higher level at junior secondary levels. The Government has invested substantially in developing measures to support schools in grasping the golden opportunity to achieve the aim of 'Enriching Our Language Environment and Realising Our Vision' under MOI fine-tuning.

An additional funding of about $320 million was earmarked for a two-year Refined English Enhancement Scheme. More than 400 secondary schools have expressed their interest in joining to refine their existing school-based measures or