21st May 2025 – (Hong Kong) In a recent meeting with school representatives and school council members, the Education Bureau disclosed that starting in the upcoming school year, all sub-item subsidies for operational expenses will not be adjusted for inflation and will be reduced by 10%. Schools are advised to flexibly utilise these subsidies based on their specific circumstances and actual needs.
The Education Bureau has also made adjustments to subsidies for non-Chinese speaking students with special educational needs, comprehensive learning subsidies, and sister school subsidies.
Furthermore, facing major budget deficits, the government is implementing cost-cutting measures across departments. Over the next three fiscal years, government spending will be reduced by 2% annually, in addition to a 1% reduction in the preceding year, culminating in an overall 7% decrease over four years.
Under-secretary for education Jeff Sze and an under-secretary general met with school representatives to explain policies for public primary and secondary schools and new operational measures for the 2025/26 academic year.
The Education Bureau revealed that starting in September, none of the sub-item subsidies will be adjusted for the Comprehensive Consumer Price Index (CCPI). Additionally, the total operational subsidy will be reduced by 10%. Despite this, salary subsidies for teaching staff will remain unchanged, leading to an overall reduction of 2% in total subsidies to schools.
The grant for supporting non-Chinese speaking students with special educational needs will now require the enrolment of 6 to 9 students for the allocation of subsidies, as opposed to the previous 1 to 9 students. Similar adjustments have been made to other levels of the subsidy program based on student enrolment numbers and subsidy amounts.
Moreover, the comprehensive learning subsidy and sister school subsidy have been revised to have a maximum total subsidy amount based on this academic year. The comprehensive learning subsidy will now be calculated based on student numbers, with each qualified secondary school student receiving a subsidy of HK$1,500. The sister school subsidy has been reduced from HK$165,439 to HK$165,000 for the upcoming academic year, with schools eligible to receive a minimum of HK$300,000 for these two subsidies.