ENG-2018 — Page 175

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Education

Matching Grant Scheme; introducing three new fellowship schemes for researchers; reviewing the RGC's mode of operations; streamlining and rationalising the RGC's three existing collaborative research funding schemes; setting up an internal government liaison group to improve coordination among different funding bodies; and adopting a common researcher identity for grant applications.

The Task Force on Review of Self-financing Post-secondary Education, set up in October 2017, submitted its review report to the government in December 2018. The report reaffirmed the government policy of supporting the parallel development of the publicly funded and self- financing post-secondary education sectors. Its recommendations included the need to set a clear policy on the development of self-financing post-secondary education; more sharply differentiating the positioning of associate degree and higher diploma qualifications; strengthening support for self-financing post-secondary institutions and students; and forging a reformed and unified regulatory framework. The government is following up on the recommendations.

Under the Ministry of Education's Scheme for Admission of Hong Kong Students to Mainland Higher Education Institutions, some Mainland higher education institutions admit Hong Kong students on the basis of their HKDSE Examination results and exempt them from taking the Joint Entrance Examination for Universities on the Mainland. In 2018-19, over 3,200 Hong Kong students applied, about 1,500 were given offers and around 580 subsequently enrolled. In 2019-20, the number of participating institutions will increase from 102 to 112, located in 20 Mainland provinces and municipalities and one autonomous region.

Increasing Post-secondary Education Opportunities

The government promotes the sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary sector by providing land and premises at nominal premium and rent, interest-free start-up loans, the $3.52 billion Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund (SPEF), student finance, quality assurance subsidies and matching grants.

As at end-2018, about $7.7 billion of start-up loans to post-secondary institutions out of a total $9 billion commitment had been approved, while about $440 million of matching grants out of a commitment of up to $500 million had been approved under the seventh Matching Grant Scheme.

The number of publicly funded, senior-year undergraduate places available at UGC-funded universities for sub-degree graduates is being increased by 1,000 between 2015-16 and 2018-19. This offers more opportunities for such students to obtain a publicly funded degree education and fosters a flexible multi-entry post-secondary education framework.

The SPEF provides the Self-financing Post-Secondary Scholarship Scheme to outstanding students pursuing full-time, locally accredited self-financing sub-degree or undergraduate programmes, and granted $83.4 million in scholarships and awards to 5,199 recipients in 2017- 18. The fund also supports worthwhile non-works projects under the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme to enhance the quality of self-financing post-secondary education, and approved a total of more than $26 million in the same academic year for 11 projects.

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