The Education Bureau today issued a circular memorandum to all secondary day schools, primary schools, special schools and kindergartens to announce the arrangements for providing a $2,500 student grant in the current school year.

The bureau noted that the Government provides the non-means tested student grant for students of such schools every school year.

The grant provision was regularised from the 2020-21 school year to alleviate parents' financial burden. 

All students, as at the date of application, studying in secondary day schools, primary schools, special schools and kindergartens offering local or non-local curriculum in Hong Kong are eligible for the grant.

Apart from private schools, educational institutions in the public sector, Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) and English Schools Foundation are all included.

Eligible children attending a special child care centre subsidised by the Social Welfare Department, newly arrived children attending a full-time Initiation Programme funded by the bureau, and students taking the Vocational Training Council’s (VTC) full-time programmes for Secondary 3 school leavers are also entitled to the grant.

However, students of evening schools or private studies, holders of student visas for entry into Hong Kong for studies and holders of the recognisance forms issued by the Immigration Department are ineligible.

The bureau said it will introduce electronic submission in public sector schools and DSS schools from the current school year and encouraged relevant parents to use the service.

Parents may log in to the online platform via an “iAM Smart+” account with digital signing function to submit applications for their children from 6am on September 14 to 11.59pm on October 2.

They may also choose to return the completed applications in paper form to schools. However, each eligible student can only submit one application, either in electronic form or paper form.

Schools must submit the completed forms to the bureau before November 8.

The bureau will normally disburse the subsidy gradually within about six weeks after receiving the applications. It will also inform parents of the application progress via SMS and email as appropriate.