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The Education Bureau (EDB) announced today (February 8) that a new 36-classroom primary school premises under planning would be open to applications by eligible school sponsoring bodies (SSBs) for reprovisioning an existing primary school in the territory in the First School Allocation Exercise (SAE) 2013.
"Existing schools which are of old planning standards and designs may be incapable of having infrastructure improvements due to the lack of space and other physical constraints. Through the reprovisioning and redevelopment programme, the Government seeks to provide better facilities to these schools by rehousing them in newly constructed or vacated school premises, or conducting on-site redevelopment for them. The premises available for allocation in this exercise is a new 36-classroom primary school premises in Area 36, Fanling, North District. Regardless of the number of classes they are operating at the moment, this exercise is open to applications for reprovisioning existing public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme primary schools which are in need of an infrastructure upgrade," an EDB spokesman said.
"Allocation of the school premises is conducted on a competitive basis. Quality of education will be the prime consideration in assessing schools' reprovisioning applications. Factors to be considered include the operation track record of the school being proposed to be reprovisioned, the school plan after relocation and the physical condition of the school's existing premises. In general, we believe that schools with a site area less than 3 000 square metres and premises over 30 years old, without having benefited from, or having only marginally benefited from, the School Improvement Programme will warrant our serious consideration, though this is not a prerequisite for the submission of applications since each case has to be assessed on its merits. In addition, the locations of the applicant schools, i.e. whether they are currently operating in the same district as the location of the new school premises, will be taken into account.
"In line with the established arrangement for reprovisioning projects, the successful applicant will be required to surrender its existing school site to the Government in accordance with the lease conditions upon relocation," he added.
All applications will be considered by the School Allocation Committee comprising official and non-official members. The applicant SSBs are required to complete a reprovisioning application form and submit it together with the required supporting documents, and a proposed school plan (of not more than 10 pages including all annexes plus a two-page executive summary) covering the vision and mission, management and organisation, learning and teaching, school ethos and support for students, student performance target and self-evaluation indicators. The applicant SSB may also make reference to the school(s) that it is also operating and the respective performance of the school(s) to substantiate its case.
In line with the EDB's established policy for school allocation, when submitting the application, the applicant body should be a charitable institution or trust of a public character exempted from tax under Section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance, and be:
(1) incorporated under the Companies Ordinance, (the successful applicant body would be required to ensure that its memorandum and articles of association contain all the standard clauses and articles required for allocation of a school); or
(2) incorporated under other ordinances, with its constitution satisfying the Permanent Secretary for Education as being fit to be considered for allocation of a school.
Application forms for the SAE 2013 and other reference materials can be downloaded from the EDB homepage (www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=246&langno=1) on or before mid-February 2013 or (www.edb.gov.hk/en/sch-admin/sch-premises-info/allocation-of-sch/index.html) on or after mid-February 2013. More information on this SAE can also be found in the homepage.
Each set of the duly completed application form and supporting documents, together with 18 copies of the proposed plan and executive summary, should reach the Infrastructure and Research Division of the EDB (6/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, 2 Tim Mei Avenue, Tamar, Hong Kong) on or before 5pm on March 15, 2013. Late or incomplete applications, as well as applications sent via email, will not be processed.
For enquiries, please call 3509 8413 or 3509 8411.
Ends/Friday, February 8, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:30
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