About 5 500 outstanding students awarded government scholarships
30.6.2021

Some 5 500 students have been awarded scholarships and awards under the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund (GSF) and the Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund (SPEF) in the 2020/21 academic year, totalling about $150 million. This year, a total of about 460 students with special educational needs were given the Endeavour Merit Award/the Endeavour Scholarship under the two funds. In addition, the GSF has reserved about $40 million for the Talent Development Scholarship and the Reaching Out Award. In a short video, the Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, congratulated the awardees of the scholarships and awards. He encouraged them to pursue a diversified development and hopes that the scholarships and awards could serve as a token to give them recognition for their outstanding performances. Mr Yeung mentioned in particular that while the pandemic has brought unprecedented challenges worldwide, it is exceptionally commendable that many students have risen to these challenges with significant achievements in various areas. The awardees have also been invited to share their joy, experiences, and future study and work plans in a video clip. Mr Yeung's congratulatory message and the awardees' sharing have been uploaded onto the websites of the Education Bureau (EDB) ( www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/postsecondary/local-higher-edu/publicly-funded-programmmes/scholarship.html ) and the Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education ( www.cspe.edu.hk/en/Overview-Measures-Fund-SPSS-Ceremony.html ), respectively. The GSF was established in 2008 to attract outstanding local students to advance their studies at home, and meritorious non-local students to pursue higher education opportunities in Hong Kong. Scholarships and awards under the GSF are Scholarships for Outstanding Performance, Targeted Scholarship, Talent Development Scholarship, Reaching Out Award, and Endeavour Merit Award. Scholarships and awards are offered to students studying full-time publicly funded sub-degree, undergraduate-level or above programmes. A list of the 10 participating institutions is in Annex I. In this academic year, about 1 300 local students and 600 non-locals were awarded the scholarships/awards. In terms of levels of study, about 1 100 students were at the undergraduate level or above, while 800 students were at the sub-degree level. The Belt and Road (B&R) Scholarship was introduced under the Targeted Scholarship Scheme to encourage students from B&R countries and regions to pursue studies in Hong Kong. Eighty-eight students from 24 B&R countries have been awarded with this scholarship for the first time in this academic year. The Self-financing Post-secondary Scholarship Scheme (SPSS) was established under the SPEF in 2011 to promote the quality and sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary sector. There are five types of scholarships and awards under the scheme, namely Outstanding Performance Scholarship, Best Progress Award, Talent Development Scholarship, Reaching Out Award, and Endeavour Scholarship. These scholarships and awards are offered to students pursuing full-time locally accredited self-financing sub-degree or undergraduate programmes. A list of 30 participating institutions is in Annex II. In this academic year, the SPEF offered scholarships and awards to about 3 400 local and about 200 non-local students. In terms of levels of study, about 2 000 of them pursued undergraduate studies while about 1 600 students were at the sub-degree level. Details of the scholarships and awards under the GSF are available at the EDB's website ( www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/postsecondary/local-higher-edu/publicly-funded-programmmes/scholarship.html ). Those under the SPSS as well as the SPEF are available at the Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education's website ( www.cspe.edu.hk ).