ARTICLE 10
EQUALITY IN EDUCATION
EQUALITY IN EDUCATION
Opportunities to education and training are important elements in empowering and enabling women to participate fully in society in different aspects. With social advancement in Hong Kong, the overall educational attainment of both women and men has improved markedly. Female and male students have equal access to education opportunities at all levels and female students are faring well academically. Relevant statistics are set out in Annex 10.
The Continuing Education Fund (CEF) was established in 2002 to encourage our workforce to pursue continuing education and self-enhancement by providing subsidy for the course fees. As at 31 March 2018, nearly 840 000 applicants applied for subsidy and 57% of them were women. Further to the announcement in the 2018-19 Budget, the Government obtained approval of the LegCo in May 2018 to raise the total provision to CEF to HK$16.2 billion (US$2,077 million). We will also roll out a series of enhancement measures in April 2019, including doubling the subsidy ceiling per applicant to HK$20,000 (US$2,560), extending the upper age limit from 65 to 70, expanding the scope of CEF courses to all eligible courses registered in the Qualifications Register, streamlining administrative arrangements, and enhancing quality assurance of CEF courses.
The Committee expressed concerns in paragraphs 60 – 61 of its previous Concluding Observations regarding education for women and girls with disabilities, particularly those with intellectual disabilities. The Government is committed to provide all children with special educational needs (SEN), regardless of their gender, with equal opportunities to receiving education in the HKSAR.
To support schools in catering for students with SEN, EDB has been providing public sector ordinary primary and secondary schools with additional resources, professional support and teacher training. In the 2016/17 school year, the school-based educational psychology service (SBEPS) has covered all public sector ordinary schools. Starting from the 2017/18 school year, EDB, by phases in three years, provides each public sector ordinary primary and secondary school with an additional teaching post to facilitate the assignment of a designated teacher in school as Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) to support integrated education. In the 2017/18 school year, 244 schools were each provided with a post for SENCO. The SENCO provision would be extended to about another 35% of the schools in the 2018/19 school year and to the remaining in the 2019/20 school year. The SENCO would assist the school in planning, coordinating and implementing the Whole School Approach to integrated education in order to further cultivate an inclusive school culture and enhance the effectiveness of the support given to students with SEN irrespective of their gender.
The EDB has also been providing resources and support for special schools to help their students develop their potential and prepare for further studies or provide post-school services regardless of their gender. The relatively smaller class size of special schools facilitates more individualised support to cater for students’ diversity. Specialists including speech therapist, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, educational psychologist, school nurse, school social worker, etc., are provided for special schools based on the types of disabilities of their students. Additional resources are also provided for special schools to cater for students with medical complexity or multiple disabilities.
The New Senior Secondary (NSS) academic structure was implemented in the 2009/10 school year. Since then, more than 100 additional regular teaching posts have been provided for the 61 aided special schools. Additional allied health staff and resources are also provided to improve the special education services in different types of special schools, including 9 speech therapists, 39 occupational therapists and 39 occupational therapist assistants. EDB will further enhance the provision of school nurse and school social worker in special schools starting from the 2018/19 school year. It is estimated that an addition of 51 school nurses and 18 school social workers will be provided.
Education opportunities for non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students, children with no right to stay and newly arrived children/young people from the Mainland are equal for both male and female. Regardless of gender, EDB offers various support services to assist them in integrating into Hong Kong society and overcoming learning barriers. The relevant details have been set out under Article 23.20(b) and Article 27.3 to 27.15 of the fourth report under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Sex education is part of values education, an integral component of our school curriculum. Learning elements related to sex education, including gender equality, are included in the Key Learning Areas, subjects such as General Studies in primary schools, Liberal Studies in secondary schools and the curricula of moral and civic education of primary and secondary schools. Apart from classroom teaching, schools organise other learning activities such as talks, visits and exhibitions, etc. to provide students with holistic learning experiences conducive to their whole-person development.
