Union deal on school site rankles

A charity arm of the Beijing-linked Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions has been granted a prime school site by the government at a nominal rent, a move criticised as unfair after at least two other interested charities were excluded from the bidding.

It has prompted a call for such sites to be put up for public tender in future to avoid accusations of collusion and favouritism.

The FTU's Employment Development Service, established in 2007 to provide employee training courses, was granted the site opposite Victoria Park the following year. It pays HK$1 a month for the site in Hing Fat Street, formerly occupied by the Victoria Park School for the Deaf, which overlooks the park and is next to a Tin Hau MTR exit.

The school closed in 2006 because students with hearing impairment were put into mainstream schools as part of the government's push for inclusive education. The site was later earmarked for vocational training purposes. The Education Bureau invited three vocational training providers, including the FTU, to set up a training centre there without going through public tendering.

Education legislator Cheung Man-kwong said a uniform allocation process by public tender was needed as more school sites in prime areas became vacant, with falling enrolments forcing schools to close.

'There will be more and more vacant school sites situated on prime property up for grabs in future due to the wave of school closures,' he said.