The government was criticised for encouraging the proliferation of expensive private schools during the Legislative Council's Finance Committee meeting this week..
Of the 33 new secondary schools approved by the Education and Manpower Bureau and to be built between 2003 and 2006, 25 will be either private independent (PIS) or direct subsidy scheme (DSS) schools which are allowed to set their own fees. And 11 of the 12 primary-cum-secondary schools to be built in the same period will also be either PIS or DSS.
At the meeting scrutinising education budget for the coming year, legislator Cheung Man-kwong said this meant parents would be deprived of school choices. It also ran contrary to the government's goal of making education accessible to all.
Parents in new towns such as Tung Chung and Tseung Kwan O would have very limited choices, he added.
But Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun said school sponsoring bodies had a choice over what type of school they wanted to run.
Mr Cheung suggested the sponsoring bodies might think they would have higher chances of being given the green light should they apply for a private mode of operation.
