AUTONOMOUS AND INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon asked the Minister for Education what is (i) the difference between autonomous and independent schools and (ii) the targeted number of autonomous schools.

The Minister for Education (Mr Lee Yock Suan): My Ministry has allowed eight secondary schools to be converted to independent schools so that they can have greater flexibility to try out innovative programmes to improve the quality of education. The Ministry will then apply the lessons learnt from the experience of the independent schools to other schools.

The independent schools follow the bilingual policy and offer the core curriculum like other schools. The boards of management of the independent schools have the power to appoint and dismiss their staff and decide on staff salaries. The independent schools have enhanced facilities for which they raise 20% of the cost. The Government gives the independent schools the same per capita subsidy as it gives other Government and Government-aided secondary schools. Additional costs per pupil of extra staff and programmes are charged to parents as increased school fees.

With the experience gained from the independent schools, my Ministry has designated 12 secondary schools as autonomous schools. They function like independent schools in having more flexibility and resources to introduce innovative programmes. However, they remain as Government or Government-aided schools and follow the same norms in class size and staffing set for these schools. The Government gives the autonomous schools 10% to 15% more funding per pupil as compared to other secondary schools. Pupils in the autonomous schools pay slightly higher fees than those in other Government and Government-aided schools. With the establishment of the independent and autonomous schools, parents have a wider choice of schools for their children.

My Ministry is planning to designate six more schools as autonomous schools in 1996, making a total of 18 autonomous schools. This is likely to be the maximum number.

Mrs Yu-Foo Yee Shoon (Yuhua): Sir, would the Government consider converting more of the better schools, including the neighbourhood schools, into autonomous schools as we know that the feedback and response have been very good? The other question is: will the Government consider assisting schools which are going independent by helping them to purchase land as well as give them more capital grants?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: Sir, the answer to the first question is yes. In fact, an announcement will be made shortly of the names of the six schools which will be converted to independent schools and some of these will be neighbourhood schools. In fact, of the present lot of 12 schools, some are neighbourhood schools. They are decided based on their location and, of course, performance and other factors.

As for the second question, we have eight independent schools and seven of them have already more or less completed their facilities based on the formula of 80% Government support and 20% raised by the school. So I hope when schools proceed to implement their projects they will be careful not to overspend because that is the best way to control the amount of money they have to raise. But if they face difficulties despite their best efforts, they can come back to the Ministry and we will see what can be done to help them.

Dr Lee Tsao Yuan: Is there any difference between the socio-economic circumstances of students in the independent schools, autonomous schools and ordinary Government schools?

Mr Lee Yock Suan: I believe the schools attract a good spread of students from all the socio-economic groups. However, it is a fact that children from better homes tend to perform better in school. So you may find a higher proportion of students from good homes in, for example, the top schools.