Policy Address
Post-secondary Education
143. The current-term Government has rolled out various initiatives to ensure that all students attaining “3322” in the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination and aspiring to study further will now have access to subsidised undergraduate education. In fact, the post-secondary education of Hong Kong is where our strengths lie. Not only will it nurture local talents for us, but it will also contribute to building a pool of talents for the GBA.
144. I visited eight UGC-funded universities around July and August this year to understand their latest developments. I am pleased to learn that the resources invested by the current-term Government in university research have been creating very positive impact and the outcomes are most encouraging. Take the results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 announced by the UGC earlier as an example. About 16 000 research items involving 41 disciplines in 13 areas were assessed by distinguished overseas and local scholars. Among them, 25% were judged to be world leading and a further 45% were judged to be internationally excellent. The Research Matching Grant Scheme, which covers a period of three years, is due to end in July next year under the original plan. I propose to extend the Scheme for another two years, so that the industrial and commercial sectors can continue to make good use of the Scheme to support the research work of the higher education sector.
Special Education
145. We are committed to catering for students with special education needs. The current-term Government has doubled the recurrent expenditure on integrated education to about $3.6 billion per year, while the recurrent expenditure on special education has also increased from about $2.5 billion to about $3.5 billion per year. The allocation has not included the provision of the On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services for pre-school children under the LWB.
Non-Chinese Speaking Students
146. To encourage non-Chinese speaking parents to send their children to local kindergartens, starting from the 2017/18 school year, the EDB has been providing additional subsidy for kindergartens under the kindergarten education scheme admitting non-Chinese speaking students. What is more important, however, is to assess the effectiveness of this initiative and make adjustments as appropriate, in the hope that language will no longer be a barrier for non-Chinese speakers to integrate into the local community and enter the job market.
