Poor may get internet aid in budget
Children from low-income families may get subsidies to help them pay internet access charges as a growing number of schools require students to do homework online.
This was being considered by the government in its next budget after research showed that seven to eight in 100 children from low-income families had no internet access, a person familiar with the government's fiscal position said.
It comes at a time when both lawmakers and welfare groups have been drumming up expectations for such a subsidy.
In a survey by Oxfam last month, 75 per cent of 502 respondents agreed the government should provide an internet subsidy. More than 77 per cent said internet access was a basic necessity for primary and secondary students, while 73 per cent regarded the lack of it an obstacle to studies.
Eighty per cent said free internet access in libraries and shopping centres was not a perfect solution. Some said the noisy environment would distract students, while others pointed to the need for queueing and the time limit on internet use.
The Computer Recycling Scheme, launched by the Education Bureau in 2005, has provided recycled computers and one-year free internet access to about 20,000 families. But Oxfam said this was not a long-term solution.
Wong Huen, a single mother with a secondary two daughter and primary four son, said a computer given to her by the government broke down the day after she received it in December last year and had yet to be repaired. Now her children must do their homework in public libraries and the son blamed her for the problem.
Three hundred low-income families are planning a march to Government House to press for the subsidy.
The government-friendly Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong has urged Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah to provide a Web subsidy in his third budget, scheduled for delivery on February 24.
Demand for the subsidy was also included in a motion passed by the Legislative Council on February 3.
