Fees set to be waived from next September for students in Form Four to Form Seven
The chief executive yesterday tackled two of the thorniest issues in education when he fleshed out plans for 12 years of free education and set out a timetable for reducing primary class sizes.
Under Donald Tsang Yam-kuen's proposals, secondary school students in Form Four to Form Seven will have their school fees waived from next September. Students leaving school after Form Three to take courses run by the Vocational Training Council will also be eligible for free education.
Primary schools will be able to reduce their class sizes to 25 for 2009 admissions, provided that would not result in a shortage of school places in their district.
An Education Bureau official said it was estimated that funding the extra years of free schooling would cost HK$1 billion annually. That would rise to an estimated HK$1.2 billion in the 2012-13 school year when the new senior secondary structure was fully implemented.
Secondary students now pay annual fees of HK$6,020 for forms four and five, and HK$9,870 for forms six and seven, the equivalent of 17.2 per cent and 16.6 per cent of the total cost, respectively.