Hong Kong public spending watchdog urges academy for gifted students to tackle lack of school nominations for membership
- Watchdog recently reviewed work carried out by Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education
- Audit Commission says there has been a ‘lack of enthusiasm’ among schools for applying for academy membership for pupils
Hong Kong’s public spending watchdog has urged a government-subsidised academy for gifted students to tackle a lack of school nominations for membership and improve the completion rate of courses.
The Audit Commission recently reviewed the work carried out by the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE), a non-governmental organisation that provides free programmes and services to students aged 10 to 18, along with the Education Bureau.
In a report released on Wednesday, the watchdog found that between the 2018-19 and 2022-23 school years, there was a “lack of enthusiasm” for applying for membership of the institution.
It said that during the five-year period, on average, 51 per cent of about 1,000 primary and secondary schools or their principals did not nominate students for membership. The watchdog asked the academy to collaborate with the bureau to address the issue.
“In view of the lack of enthusiasm of some schools in nominating gifted students, [the academy should] … for example, [strengthen] publicity among the schools and [encourage] them to identify gifted students for nomination,” the report said.
“[It should take] further measures to promote channels for identification of gifted students other than school nomination.”
The academy, founded in 2008 as a private company, is a non-profit organisation subsidised by the bureau.
It works closely with the bureau in providing off-school education services for gifted primary and secondary pupils.