The following is issued on behalf of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee:
On the advice of the Quality Education Fund Steering Committee (QEFSC), the Trustee of the Quality Education Fund (QEF), the Director of Education Incorporated has approved grants totalling $845 million for 1 559 projects in the third call for applications to the Fund.
Vetting of the 3 222 applications received during the third call for applications to the QEF has been completed except about 10 applications which remain to be further considered by the QEFSC.
"The approved projects all aim to enhance the quality of school education. They represent efforts in promoting effective learning, all-round development, improving school-based management, and conducting education researches. Many of them also involve the use of information technology in schools," said Mr Joseph W P Wong, Secretary for Education and Manpower.
"Again, I would like to express my gratitude towards the QEF Steering Committee for their hard work in the past six months in vetting over 3000 applications," added Mr Wong.
"I am glad to see that the school sector has responded enthusiastically to our third call for applications for grants from the QEF and, with the improved quality of the proposals, the Trustee has approved 1 559 projects involving grants totalling $845 million," said Mr Irving Koo, Chairman of the QEF Steering Committee.
"The quality and variety of successful projects demonstrate very clearly the continuous efforts of schools in making use of the Fund for self-improvement and innovation in line with the broad direction of our education reform," said Mr Koo.
A significant number of projects approved in the current call for applications involve the employment of Native English-speaking Teachers (NETs) for the enhancement of English language teaching and learning in primary schools. The 12 approved projects in this group involve grants totalling $102m. Notable among them are two projects which involve grants of $53m and $48m respectively, benefitting more than 70 primary schools. Local teachers will be seconded to work with the NETs in the two projects. =
There are also other projects approved to enhance English language learning in primary schools and they include reading schemes and provision of information learning centres.
Another significant group of projects approved involve the provision of 151 multimedia learning centres (MMLCs) and 13 computer-assisted learning laboratories in secondary schools, and 42 information technology (IT) learning centres in primary schools, and the upgrading of 103 MMLCs to maximise the benefits of IT in education to enhance effectiveness of teaching and learning.
To further promote all-round education, over 670 projects on sports, arts and music have been approved. Participation in these projects will provide learning opportunities for students outside the classroom. Through these projects, students will be able to acquire skills like independent thinking, leadership, collaboration and consensus building.
The Promotion and Monitoring Sub-committee of the QEFSC and the QEF Secretariat will continue to work in collaboration with the grantees to ensure that the intended results of funded projects are achieved, and that the outcomes of projects are properly evaluated.
End/Monday, May 29, 2000