Spending of HK school funds put under spotlight

Spending of HK school funds put under spotlight

Government watchdog warned Hong Kong’s Education Bureau about possible abuse of funds for new billion-dollar school funds.

Lawmakers urged the bureau to closely supervise schools that apply for the HK$900million after-school program funding after Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced the grant for the 2019-2020 school year.

After news broke of the subsidy program, it was found that schools could apply for the fund with little oversight. They simply had to provide information such as a summary of their extra-curricular activities to get approval for the funds, said a legislator.

As the government pushes for schools to offer more extra-curricular activities for students, one lawmaker was concerned about an abuse of the allowance.

“Some companies may see this as a business opportunity to sail under false colours, tricking parents and schools into joining after-school programs, in return for business,” said Michael Luk.

Concerns surfaced last month after parents filed complaints claiming they were “tricked” into going on a six-day study tour to Thailand for the 2018 Asia Mathematics Olympiad.

“[They said] the school had been urging their children to join the trip as it would enhance student learning,” said a member of the Federation of Trade Unions, Tang Ka-piu. “But for three of the six days the group went shopping and visited temples.”

According to the South China Morning Post, while the tour was described as a study trip, it was more like “forced tourism”. To better protect students and parents, Luk and Tang called for tighter regulation of government funding.

“There is a need for a stricter application process, organisations should also be required to provide their curriculum or itinerary in detail, before the activities are subsidised,” Luk said.

The government should also establish a list of registered organisations that can provide quality extra curriculum activities for after-school programs or overseas trips, he added.

In response the bureau said it had issued guidelines to primary and secondary schools for choosing which activities to pursue.

The bureau stated that schools should select activities based on student need and that schools are required to submit audits every year regarding spending of public funds.

However, they admitted difficulty in enforcing a list of qualified groups for extra-curricular activities as the program grows in popularity.