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Author Archives: hksar gov

LCQ15: Planning for the facilities in various districts

     Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Wan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (February 27):
 
Question:
 
     Some residents from Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun have relayed to me that with the successive intake of residents by newly completed public and private housing estates in those districts in recent years, the shortage of facilities, such as social welfare and healthcare facilities, in such districts has become more acute. Moreover, in recent years, there has been an upsurge in the number of inbound Mainland visitors going to those districts for shopping, thereby aggravating the problem of insufficient retail facilities in such districts. Regarding the planning for the facilities in various districts, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) given that the current ratios of public general outpatient clinics to population of Yuen Long and Tuen Mun are lower than that proposed in the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG) (i.e. the provision of one general clinic for every 100  000 persons), whether the Government will provide, apart from the community health centre proposed to be built at Tuen Mun Area 29 West, new public general outpatient clinics in those two districts in the coming three years; if so, of the details;
 
(2) given that as at December 31, 2017, the general beds to population ratios for the New Territories West Cluster (which covers the public hospitals in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long) and the Kowloon West Cluster (which covers the public hospitals in Tsuen Wan) were 2.3 beds and 2.5 beds/1 000 persons respectively, which were lower than the overall ratio for the Hospital Authority (HA) (i.e. 3.0 beds/1000 persons), whether the Government knows if HA has plans in the coming three years to increase the numbers of general beds in those two clusters and to allocate the additional resources required; if HA does, of the details;
 
(3) since it is provided in HKPSG that there should be one District Elderly Community Centre (DECC) in each new development area with a population of around 170 000 or above, and the Government indicated in July last year that “…where appropriate, there should be one Neighbourhood Elderly Centre in each new and redeveloped public rental housing estate and one in private housing areas with a population of 15 000 to 20 000 in new residential areas”, whether the Government will, in the coming three years, provide Neighbourhood Elderly Centres or DECCs in Yuen Long, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun respectively; and
 
(4) whether the Government will, in response to the growing number of inbound Mainland visitors, review afresh the estimated demand and planning approach for the retail facilities in the relevant districts?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
     Having consulted the Labour and Welfare Bureau, the Development Bureau and the Hospital Authority (HA), my reply to the various parts of the question raised by Hon Andrew Wan is as follows:
 
(1) HA is committed to providing community-based primary care services through its general outpatient (GOP) services. Its service users mainly include the elders, low-income individuals, and patients with chronic diseases. At present, the number of General Outpatient Clinics (GOPCs) in Tsuen Wan, Yuen Long and Tuen Mun Districts are two, five and three respectively.
 
     In order to enhance public primary healthcare services and meet growing service demand, HA has implemented a series of measures to augment the service capacity of existing GOPCs. These measures include actively recruiting additional staff, carrying out clinic renovation and renewing its facilities, so as to streamline patient flow, improve the clinic environment and increase clinical space.
      
     Apart from the above, the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) and HA have been working closely with Government Property Agency, Planning Department, Housing Department (HD), Lands Department, etc. in exploring suitable sites in each district so as to facilitate long term planning for public primary healthcare service development. In view of the service demand in Tsuen Wan District, FHB, HA and the Department of Health are working together to explore the feasibility of redeveloping the current Lady Trench Polyclinic Site with a view to expanding its GOP service in the district. As for Yuen Long District, the Government is proactively identifying suitable sites for primary care purpose in the longer run. Regarding Tuen Mun District, apart from HA’s planned Community Health Centre in the public housing development in Tuen Mun Area 29 West led by HD which is expected to be completed by 2024, concerned Government departments are also exploring the proposal of redeveloping the Tuen Mun Clinic Site (where HA’s Tuen Mun Clinic is currently located). Initial assessment on its land use is being conducted.
 
(2) In the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG), the beds as referred to in the beds to population ratio include all types of hospital beds (general (acute and convalescent), infirmary, psychiatric and mentally handicapped beds) in public and private hospitals, and are not limited to general beds in public hospitals. With the growing and ageing population, HA has drawn up plans to increase the number of beds to cope with the rising demand for medical services.
 
     The Kowloon West Cluster covers the service requirement from the residents in Sham Shui Po, Kwai Tsing, Tsuen Wan and Lantau Island. In the recent years, development of North Lantau Hospital (NLTH), phase 2 redevelopment of Caritas Medical Centre and redevelopment of Yan Chai Hospital in the cluster have been completed and put into operation. The NLTH has commenced operation in September 2013 by phases. The first phase development of NLTH will provide 180 hospital beds. As at December 31, 2018, 90 beds have been put into service. The second 10-year Hospital Development Plan under planning will cover the study of in-situ redevelopment of Princess Margaret Hospital and expansion of NLTH.
      
     For the New Territories West Cluster, which covers the service requirement from the residents in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long Districts, the new hospital constructed in Tin Shui Wai has commenced operation in the first quarter of 2017 by phases and will provide 300 hospital beds. As at December 31, 2018, 32 beds have been put into service. In the long run, HA has considered making use of the adjoining site of Tin Shui Wai Hospital for future expansion of the hospital in the second 10-year Hospital Development Plan to further increase service capacity. At the same time, the Government has reserved a site at Hung Shui Kiu New Development Area for the construction of a new hospital to meet the growing healthcare demand of the population in the New Territories West.
 
(3) The Government will construct the following two projects in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long Districts in the coming three years –
 
–  A Neighbourhood Elderly Centre (NEC) at Sites 1&1A of the Public Housing Development Project at Tuen Mun Area 54
–  An NEC at the ex-Long Bin Interim Housing site and its adjoining area
 
     At the same time, in accordance with the recently announced planning ratios for elderly services in the HKPSG, the Government will proactively follow-up with the relevant departments and units with a view to further increasing the number of District Elderly Community Centres and NECs to satisfy the districts’ demand for the services.
 
(4) The retail industry as one of the major economic activities in Hong Kong is a commercial use in terms of land use. The Government has been monitoring the market demand for commercial floor space and is committed to increasing the supply of sites, space and hardware for commercial uses in order to facilitate the development of different economic activities and maintain Hong Kong’s competitiveness. The development and choice of uses for commercial land and floor space is preferably market-driven, allowing business operators to respond to the fast-changing market situations and make timely and flexible decisions. The existing planning system, including the statutory plans, has embodied sufficient flexibility to facilitate retail activities in many land use zones. For example, “retail shops” is an always permitted use on the land zoned “Commercial” in the core business areas and major shopping areas. In the “Residential (Group A)” zones of major residential areas, retail shops are also always permitted in the lower storeys of buildings. Developers can also propose change of land use for sites considered suitable for development of retail business via planning applications. read more

East Asia

LCQ3: Elective subjects of the senior secondary curriculum

     Following is a question by Hon Mrs Regina Ip and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, in the Legislative Council today (February 27):

Question:

     Under the arrangements of the New Senior Secondary academic structure, apart from the four compulsory core subjects, schools may decide on their own to offer a certain number of elective subjects (with the average number of last school year being 11) out of 20 subjects which are Key Learning Area elective subjects, Applied Learning courses and six other language courses, and their students may choose to take two to three subjects among the subjects offered. It is learnt that in respect of some elective subjects (e.g. Combined Science, Integrated Science as well as Design and Applied Technology), the numbers of students taking and the numbers of schools offering such subjects have been persistently on the low side in recent years. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has assessed if there are faults in the curriculum designs of those subjects with persistently low student enrolments; if it has assessed and the outcome is in the affirmative, whether the Government will conduct a comprehensive review of the curriculum designs of such subjects; if it has not assessed, of the reasons for that; and

(2) whether it will consider consolidating those elective subjects which are offered by a small number of schools and have a low student enrolment, so that the schools concerned may concentrate their teaching resources on other elective subjects; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Our consolidated reply to the questions of Hon Mrs Regina Ip is as follows:

     The primary aim of the senior secondary curriculum under the New Academic Structure (NAS) is to provide students with a broad and balanced curriculum under which they take two or three elective subjects (four at most) on top of four core subjects (i.e. Chinese Language, English Language, Mathematics and Liberal Studies). The curriculum is also supplemented by a wide range of activities for “Other Learning Experiences” to broaden students’ horizons and foster their whole-person development. Under the open curriculum framework, schools can offer students an appropriate and adequate choice of elective subjects from 20 senior secondary elective subjects, some 30 Applied Learning (ApL) courses and six Other Languages. This arrangement not only caters for students’ interests and needs, but also provides schools with sufficient flexibility to develop their school-based curricula in the light of their contexts as well as the needs of students.

     Being an international city boasting a blend of Chinese and Western cultures, it is of the utmost importance for Hong Kong to nurture a pool of talent in various fields. The design of the senior secondary curriculum under the NAS is based on the development of both Hong Kong and the world, as well as local socio-cultural, economic and geographical factors, and reference has been made to the trends in curriculum development in other countries/regions. The senior secondary curriculum should also cater for students’ diverse needs so as to enable them to choose suitable subjects according to their interests, aspirations and abilities. The student enrolment of each elective subject in every school year depends on an array of factors. In particular, the continuous decline in student population over the past few years has directly affected the student enrolment of elective subjects, while the requirements for admission to different departments of universities (e.g. prerequisite or non-prerequisite elective subjects) impact on the number of elective subjects taken by students. For instance, some universities or departments might set the order of admission priority based on the attainments in the best five or six subjects of candidates meeting the General Entrance Requirements. This might have led some candidates to focus on their strong subjects or even drop individual subjects in Secondary 5 or 6 in order to strive for better results. In this regard, the high or low student enrolment of an elective subject may not necessarily bear a relationship to whether there is room for improvement in its curriculum design.

     We are aware that the numbers of students taking individual senior secondary elective subjects, such as Literature in English, Integrated Science, Technology and Living, Music and individual ApL courses (e.g. Applied Learning Chinese (for non-Chinese speaking students), Animal Care, Entrepreneurship for Small and Medium Enterprises), have been rather low. Yet, as stated above, in the context of the holistic design of school curriculum, we have to consider students’ needs and school contexts from a professional angle to offer different senior secondary elective subjects including those with low student enrolments. In doing so, students with different aptitudes, abilities and backgrounds are provided with an adequate choice of subjects, hence catering for learner diversity and supporting students in multiple study and career pathways. Taking Combined Science and Integrated Science as examples, we provide two integrated science subjects, in addition to the traditional science subjects (including Physics, Chemistry and Biology), to not only meet students’ need for taking science subjects to master essential scientific knowledge, but also give students space to consider acquiring the domains of knowledge in connection with subjects under other Key Learning Areas. In fact, given the increasingly diverse pathways to further studies, local tertiary institutions also offer bachelor’s degree and diploma progammes of a cross-disciplinary/integrated nature which go beyond traditional subject learning.

     At present, schools in general are offering about 11 elective subjects at the senior secondary level. To give students a wider choice of subjects, the Education Bureau (EDB) has been providing schools with the Diversity Learning Grant (DLG) since the 2009/10 school year to encourage collaboration among schools on offering joint-school curricula of different senior secondary subjects (e.g. Music, Physical Education, Design and Applied Technology, Ethics and Religious Studies), hence optimising the use of resources across schools as well as catering for students’ diverse interests. For now, over 150 secondary schools are involved in offering the joint-school curricula. The funding from the DLG can also be used to make arrangements for students to take Other Languages and/or ApL courses offered by course providers in order to cater for students’ diverse learning needs. ApL courses cover six areas of studies, namely Creative Studies; Media and Communication; Business, Management and Law; Services; Applied Science; and Engineering and Production. Fewer than 5 000 students are enrolled in some 30 courses, each of which is taken by a fairly small number of students; however, taking into consideration the potential for broadening students’ learning experiences and enabling them to learn fundamental theories and concepts through application and practice, ApL courses are meaningful subject choices.

     The EDB has been monitoring the development of the senior secondary curriculum under the NAS since its launch in 2009. Regular meetings are also held by the committees on various senior secondary subjects under the Curriculum Development Council (CDC) to review the implementation of the subjects. Given that curriculum development is an ongoing process, the committees on various senior secondary subjects under the CDC will, in a timely manner, review and update the design of the curricula of senior secondary subjects as well as the examination and assessment arrangements in the light of the ongoing renewal of the school curriculum to respond to changes in society and students’ needs. read more

East Asia