CE pledges childcare boost

October 16, 2019

Voiceover:

To support children with special needs, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has planned to boost the On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services. 

She suggested to raise the number of service places by 1,000 each year over the next three years, bringing the total number to 10,000 to meet service needs.

The move aims to achieve the zero-waiting time objective that she pledged in her first Policy Address.

Moreover, a 20-month pilot scheme in kindergartens and child care centres will be implemented early next year so that children with signs of special needs can receive early intervention services.  

The Government will also strengthen the After School Care Programme with new measures. They include adding 2,500 fee-waiving places, relaxing application eligibility, increasing subsidy levels, providing extra subsidies for children with special education needs and streamlining means-test procedures. 

Mrs Lam also proposed to regularise the one-off student grant provision from the 2020-21 school year with an annual grant of $2,500 for each student.  It will benefit 900,000 students.

To better support working families with lower incomes, she suggested to raise the Working Family Allowance payment rates.  There will be a 16.7% to 25% rise in the working-hour linked household allowance, while the Child Allowance will be raised substantially by 40%. 

Mrs Lam said more than 170 public play spaces managed by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department will be modified over the next five years, aiming to provide more interesting play areas for children.

(To watch the video with sign language interpretation, click here.)

To support children with special needs, Chief Executive Carrie Lam has planned to boost the On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services.

Presenting her Policy Address today, Mrs Lam suggested increasing the number of service places by 1,000 each year over the next three school years, bringing the total number of 10,000 to better support children with special needs and give parents greater assurance.

Her goal is to attain the zero-waiting time target that she pledged in her first Policy Address.

Additionally, a 20-month pilot scheme to benefit kindergartens and kindergarten/child care centres will be implemented next year to ensure early intervention services will be offered to children with signs of special needs, she added.

The Government will also strengthen the After School Care Programme with new measures that include fee-waiving places and additional subsidies for children with special education needs.

Mrs Lam proposed to regularise from the next school year the $2,500 one-off grant for secondary day school, primary school and kindergarten students. The grant will benefit about 900,000 students.

She also suggested to raise the Working Family Allowance payment rates to help support lower income families, while the Child Allowance will also be increased 40%.

To provide more interesting play areas for children, Mrs Lam planned to modify more than 170 public play spaces managed by the Leisure & Cultural Services Department over the next five years.