The following is issued on behalf of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee (QEFSC):
The third call for applications for grants from the Quality Education Fund (QEF) started today (Monday) and will close on November 30, 1999.
"Based on the experience of previous calls for applications and also views from the education sector, the QEF has introduced in the third call 12 suggested themes which are built around the themes of the Education Commission's (EC) education reform. They are intended to assist applicants in planning their project proposals," said Mr Irving Koo, Chairman of the QEF Steering Committee.
"The suggested themes aim to provide pointers to the school sector in developing project proposals. The themes are developed on the basis of the experience in the previous two calls, as well as the EC's revised aims of education. They do not in any way alter the basically bottom-up nature of QEF. Applications falling outside these themes will also be considered." he added.
In view of the paradigm shift in local education which places emphasis on student-centred and life-long learning, the QEF Steering Committee considers it more appropriate to change "Teaching and Learning" to "Effective Learning" in the categorization of projects in the third call for applications. The other categories, i.e. "All-round Education", "School-based Management", "Information Technology" and "Education Research" remain unchanged.
The suggested priority themes under each category are:
Effective Learning
* projects that improve students' overall ability to communicate effectively with particular focus on bi-literate and tri-lingual abilities;
* curriculum integration/curriculum innovation to stimulate students' interest in learning;
* projects that develop students' critical thinking, problem-solving skills, creativity and self-study skills;
* projects that aim to provide pre-school children with the experience of an enjoyable and active group life and a variety of learning activities;
* projects that enable students with special needs, such as academic low achievers, newly arrived children and gifted students to realise their potential; and
* projects that assist physically or mentally handicapped children to overcome their learning difficulties.
All-round Education
* community service programmes that seek to enrich students' life experience and foster their commitment to the community; and
* leadership development programmes which aim to cultivate students' ability to plan, control, make decisions, communicate and work in groups.
School-based Management
* professional development and experience sharing programmes which aim to enhance teachers' ability to exercise professional judgement and to cater to students' individual needs; and
* development of effective school-based management systems
Information Technology
* projects that foster students' abilities to learn independently with the help of information technology.
Education Research
* projects that improve the quality of school education through action research.
"Projects that are submitted by a cluster of schools, and projects which involve the participation or resource contribution of the business sector will receive favourable consideration. This is in keeping with the EC's theme of community-wide motivation for education." Mr Koo said.
There is no pre-set limit to the number of projects to be approved for any category of projects or any pre-set limit of grants to be approved.
Measures have been taken to simplify the application procedures and to improve on the efficiency for processing applications. The notes to the applicants provide clear guidelines on the completion of the application form, and examples under the different categories of projects.
"We hope that applicants will find the suggested themes and the examples given in the notes to applicants useful in preparing their proposals. Further reference materials can also be obtained from the QEF Resource Centre, including information on the successful applications as well as their products and deliverables." Mr Koo said.
Copies of the application form are being distributed to schools, educational institutions and other related organizations. It can be obtained from the QEF Secretariat or downloaded from the QEF website (http://www.info.gov.hk/qef/). The enquiry hotline is 2921 8833.
End/Monday, October 4, 1999