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The Education (Amendment) Bill 2013 has been gazetted today (March 22).
The bill seeks to amend the Education Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation to provide protection to Grant Schools Provident Fund (GSPF) and Subsidized Schools Provident Fund (SSPF) members, in case of bankruptcy, of their benefits in provident funds that are maintained under the Ordinance.
The GSPF and SSPF are statutory provident funds aimed at assisting aided school teachers to accumulate retirement savings. The objective of the amendments is to protect the benefits of members in the GSPF and SSPF, such that, among others, in the event of bankruptcy of a GSPF/SSPF contributor, the right or entitlement of the contributor to any benefits in the GSPF and SSPF would not be made available to the creditors and that the contributor will have the benefits preserved for retirement.
A spokesman of the Education Bureau said, "We look forward to the enactment of the bill in the 2012-13 Legislative Programme so that protection to contributors of the GSPF and SSPF in the event of bankruptcy could be provided as soon as possible."
The Legislative Council Panel on Education was briefed on the legislative proposal at its meeting on December 11, 2012, and indicated its support.
The bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council on March 27.
Ends/Friday, March 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:00
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