Hong Kong public schools to face 10% cut in major grant in coming academic year

Hong Kong’s public primary and secondary schools will face a 10 per cent funding reduction in one of the largest operating government grants in the coming academic year, which some industry stakeholders described as alarming.

Apart from cuts to the Expanded Operating Expenses Block Grant, schools under the direct subsidy scheme (DSS), which are regarded as semi-private in Hong Kong, would also face a 2 per cent funding reduction under the government’s proposal.

Officials of the Education Bureau met the school sector on Tuesday to announce its proposed spending cuts, saying the total reduction would amount to a total of 7 per cent from 2024-25 to 2027-28.

The distribution of cuts would be 1 per cent in 2024-25 and 2 per cent in each of the following three school years.

The bureau earlier told the legislature it would reduce its recurrent expenditure by 1 per cent internally in 2024-25 without slashing funding for the school sector, but would share the 2 per cent annual cuts in subsequent years with the industry.

Lee Yi-ying, chairwoman of the Subsidised Secondary Schools Council and a secondary school principal, who attended the bureau’s briefing, said there would be a major cut of 10 per cent to the Expanded Operating Expenses Block Grant – one of the largest sources of public funding for the city’s public schools.