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Education

Under the UGC's aegis are the Research Grants Council (RGC), which advises on the research needs of the academic sector and the distribution of research funding, and the Quality Assurance Council, which helps assure the quality of all programmes of the UGC-funded universities.

UGC members are appointed by the Chief Executive in their personal capacity and all are prominent in their fields. They comprise accomplished academics and higher education administrators from outside Hong Kong, and eminent community leaders and academics of high standing locally. The UGC Secretariat, a government department, provides administrative support.

Education in Hong Kong

The government provides 12 years' free primary and secondary education to all children through public-sector schools, which form the majority in the school system. These consist of government schools operated directly by the government and aided schools that are generally run by religious or charitable organisations, fully subvented by the government and managed by their own incorporated management committees or school management committees. To provide for more diversity, there are other types of schools, namely Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, which can charge school fees, receive government subvention based on enrolment and enjoy greater flexibility, and self-financed private schools.

Hong Kong's 55' international schools, including 15 operated by the English. Schools Foundation, provided about 44,900 places as at September, catering mainly to the demand of non-local families living in Hong Kong for work and investment. Generally operated on a self- financing basis, these schools offer different non-local curricula, including those of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the International Baccalaureate programme.

Both publicly funded and self-financing post-secondary programmes are available at sub- degree, undergraduate and higher levels. The publicly funded programmes are provided by the eight UGC-funded universities, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) and the VTC. Diverse self-financing post-secondary programmes are available at post-secondary institutions with a choice of study pathways and multiple entry and exit points.

To carry out in-depth reviews on key areas of education, the government set up seven task forces between October 2017 and April 2018 on the professional development of teachers, the school curriculum, promotion of vocational and professional education and training, self- financing post-secondary education, school-based management policy, home-school cooperation and parent education, and research policy and funding.

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One international school is under renovation and hence its operation is suspended temporarily in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 school years.

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