LCQ13: Student Travel Subsidy Scheme
23.11.2022

Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Li and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, in the Legislative Council today (November 23): Question: Regarding the Student Travel Subsidy Scheme (STSS), will the Government inform this Council: (1) among the students benefiting from the STSS in each of the past three years, of the respective numbers and percentages of those attending schools within their home districts and in other districts; (2) whether it has compiled statistics on the numbers and percentages of students benefiting from STSS using various means of public transport to travel to and from schools; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; (3) of the administrative expenses involved in implementing the STSS in each of the past three years; (4) whether, in order to encourage students to participate in extra-curricular activities, the authorities have studied the extension of the STSS to cover all students receiving formal primary and secondary education, and those attending a full-time day course up to first degree level in an acceptable institution; if so, of the details (including the additional number of students to be benefited and the additional expenditure to be involved); if not, the reasons for that; and (5) when the STSS was last reviewed; whether it has reviewed the eligibility criteria for applying for the STSS and its effectiveness in alleviating the financial burden on families of students; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Reply: President, The Student Finance Office (SFO) under the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency provides various assistance schemes for needy students. Among those schemes, the Student Travel Subsidy (STS) Scheme provides subsidy to needy students attending primary or secondary school or a full-time day course up to first degree level in a recognised institution; residing more than 10 minutes' walking distance away from their schools; and who need to travel to school by public transport. The subsidy amount is calculated on the basis of the average public transport fare of the student's home-school travels during the school term. The reply to the question raised by the Hon Stanley Li is as follows: (1) Students residing more than 10 minutes' walking distance away from their schools are eligible under the Scheme. The SFO does not have the breakdown on the number of beneficiaries attending schools located within or outside their district of residence. (2) The STS is not disbursed on a reimbursement basis. The SFO does not have the breakdown on the number of beneficiaries by different actual modes of public transport for home-school travel. (3) The SFO provides a single household-based application form to facilitate families with children attending primary or secondary schools or kindergartens/child care centres to make an integrated application for various types of student financial assistance (including the STS Scheme) for all eligible children in the family. The SFO also offers a convenient, fast and efficient on-line application service and encourages applicants to apply through electronic submission. The SFO does not have the breakdown on the administrative costs of individual schemes. (4) The Government's policy on student finance is to ensure that no student is denied access to education due to a lack of means. The STS Scheme provides full grant or half grant of travel subsidy to students having regard to their financial needs to ensure the proper use of public money. The Government does not have any plan to extend the STS Scheme to cover students without financial needs, nor does the Government have an estimation on the number of beneficiaries or additional expenditure that may arise from such extension. (5) The SFO conducts reviews and introduces enhancement measures from time to time to alleviate families' financial burden in meeting their children's home-school travel expenses. For instance, in the 2011/12 school year, the family income ceiling for the full level of student financial assistance was relaxed so that more students (including student-applicants for the STS Scheme) could receive the full rate of subsidy. Currently, under the relaxed mechanism, the number of students receiving the full rate of travel subsidy accounts for about 60 per cent of all beneficiaries of the STS Scheme. In addition, starting from the 2015/16 school year, the initiative funded by the Community Care Fund to provide enhanced support to needy students of special schools to meet their home-school travel expenses has been incorporated into the STS Scheme as a regular measure. Needy primary and secondary students of special schools (including those suffering from physical disability, visual impairment, hearing impairment and intellectual disability) meeting the eligibility criteria of the STS Scheme (i.e. residing more than 10 minutes' walking distance away from their schools and need to travel to school by public transport) can receive an extra 50 per cent on top of the originally assessed amount of travel subsidy.