The Education Bureau has dug its heels in against lawmakers' calls to provide evening school courses for adults free of charge. Lawmakers had thrown back proposals to extend financial support for the courses in light of the government's policy change to provide 12 years of free education. But in a paper to the Legislative Council education panel ahead of a meeting on Monday, the bureau said it intended to stick to its original plan to meet half of adult learners' fees. It said making the courses free could have 'read-across implications on other financial assistance schemes for adult learners'.