The government's HK$50 million subsidy to develop the e-textbook market in an attempt to cut the rising cost of school books drew criticism from industry representatives at a briefing session yesterday.
The Education Bureau will today start accepting applications from companies or publishers who do not operate for profit to receive a grant of up to 50 per cent of the development cost of an e-textbook for primary and secondary pupils, or HK$4 million per project.
The grant would be given on a dollar-for-dollar basis and distributed in five phases, the government said. Applications will close on September 24.
'I wonder what the real purpose behind it is,' said Dr Kan Wing-kay, a retired professor of computer science who taught at Chinese University and now runs the Win Key Information Technology firm.
'The current scheme will not promote e-books but is intended to break up the monopoly of the publishing industry,' he said, citing the government's desire to only turn hard copies into computer versions.
The bureau said the scheme was to encourage potential e-textbook publishers to develop 'a new, rich and sustainable e-textbook market'.