The Education Bureau (EDB) today (September 6) issued a circular memorandum to all secondary day schools, primary schools, special schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong, announcing the arrangements for the provision of a student grant to day-school students in the 2023/24 school year.
An EDB spokesman said, "The Government provides a student grant of $2,500 for secondary day-school, primary school and kindergarten students every school year. The provision of the grant has been regularised starting from the 2020/21 school year to alleviate parents' burden of educational expenses."
The student grant is non-means-tested. All students, as at the date of application, studying in secondary day-schools, primary schools and special schools (including public sector schools, Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, English Schools Foundation schools and private schools) as well as kindergartens (whether having joined the kindergarten education scheme or not) offering local or non-local curriculum in Hong Kong are eligible for the grant. Students of evening schools, students of private studies, holders of student visas for entry into Hong Kong for studies and holders of the recognisance forms issued by the Immigration Department are not within the scope of subsidy.
The spokesman continued, "The following students are deemed eligible for the grant owing to special circumstances: (a) children at the age of 2 years and 8 months or above as at September 1 of the 2023/24 school year concerned attending a Special Child Care Centre subsidised by the Social Welfare Department owing to special needs; (b) newly arrived children attending a full-time Initiation Programme funded by the EDB; and (c) students taking full-time programmes for Secondary Three school leavers offered by the Vocational Training Council. We will issue letters to relevant organisations and institutions today to inform them of the details."
The spokesman said, "Starting from the 2023/24 school year, the EDB will introduce electronic submission of student grant applications (e-submission) in public sector schools and DSS schools. Parents may log in to the e-submission platform via an 'iAM Smart+' account with digital signing function to submit applications for their children studying in public sector schools or DSS schools. The e-platform will open from 6am on September 14 to 11.59pm on October 2. Parents are encouraged to submit applications online to enjoy the convenience of the e-service."
To cater for the needs of individual parents, apart from e-submission, the EDB provides an option for parents to return the completed applications in paper form to schools. However, only one application, either in electronic form or paper form, can be submitted for each eligible student. Schools are required to submit the completed forms to the EDB for follow-up on or before November 8. The EDB will normally disburse the subsidy gradually within about six weeks after receiving the duly completed application forms and will inform parents of the application progress via SMS and email as appropriate.
Details of the student grant are available on the EDB website (www.edb.gov.hk/en/student-parents/support-subsidies/student-grant/index.html).
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