Schools will not receive fresh funds to develop liberal studies material, because most schools have spent less than half of an initial HK$320,000 grant over two years, the education chief says.
Any remaining money from the grant can be used for a third year, to August next year, Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung (pictured) said yesterday.
The Education Bureau's proposal comes amid concerns that thousands of teachers and assistants may lose their jobs because of a shorter secondary curriculum under educational reforms begun in 2009.
The lack of fresh funds in liberal studies would exacerbate the situation, a legislator said yesterday, adding that schools' spending figures only reflected the first year of the grant.
Nearly 2,500 teachers and 68 principals signed a petition last month asking the bureau to continue to subsidise schools for their liberal studies development. They said many teachers were facing already immense pressure because of the new curriculum, and the situation would only become worse if teaching assistants were fired because of a lack of funds. Many teachers were working at home after they knocked off at 7pm, they said.
Yesterday, Suen told lawmakers that 75 per cent of the 294 aided secondary schools had used less than half of the grant, according to annual accounts they submitted for the last academic year. He said 92 schools recorded an unspent balance of 70 per cent or above, while 33 had not spent a cent. 'It's inappropriate to take a one-size-fits-all approach,' he said.