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Education

Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance

This ordinance regulates non-local courses of higher and professional education conducted in Hong Kong through a system of registration to ensure the standards of the courses and qualifications are comparable with those in their home countries. It protects consumers from non-local courses which do not fulfil the registration criteria. As at end-September, 1,081 non-local courses were registered or exempted from registration under the ordinance.

More Funding Resources

Quality Education Fund

This fund seeks to raise the quality of school education and promote quality school education. As at end-August, it had approved about 11,400 projects involving about $5.26 billion.

Life Planning Education

A recurrent Career and Life Planning Grant is disbursed to public-sector and DSS schools providing senior secondary education to implement life planning education that prepares students for the transition from school to post-secondary education, including VPET, or the workplace and to make the best of opportunities ahead. Schools may opt for regular teaching posts instead of the grant to further consolidate their experiences with more stable teaching

manpower.

The bureau encourages close collaboration between schools and various sectors in organising activities for secondary students to enhance their exposure to the corporate world and provide first-hand experience in different trades and careers. It implements the Business-School Partnership Programme, conducting activities with over 140 business partners in 2019-20 that benefited more than 27,000 students.

Support for Needy Students

School-based After-school Learning and Support Programmes subsidise activities that help eligible needy students improve their learning effectiveness, broaden their learning experiences outside the classroom and raise their understanding of the community and sense of belonging. In 2020-21, a total of 899 schools and 160 NGOs received the subsidies, helping about

170,000 students.

The Student Activities Support (SAS) Fund, set up in 2019, helps students with financial needs to participate in activities organised or recognised by schools. From the 2019-20 school year, the fund's investment return has been used for providing the SAS Grant for applications from public-sector schools (including special schools) and DSS schools. About $80 million was allocated to 942 schools in 2019-20, subsidising about 161,000 students.

Student Finance Office

To ensure no student is denied access to education because of a lack of means, the Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency provides means-tested and non-means-tested financial assistance at various study levels. The office also administers a number of scholarship schemes.

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