(Message from Amy Yung Islands District Council Member DB)

Dear DB Residents,

I am pleased to inform you that the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) school is back on track for Discovery Bay.  This is a 30 classroom primary-cum-secondary school, to be built on the designated land near the junction of Discovery Bay Road and Siena Avenue.

Many of Hong Kong's elite schools are DSS schools. DSS schools receive a subsidy from the government, but are free to charge fees and to offer a flexible curriculum. Most existing DSS schools use English as the medium of instruction; some offer IB and UK 'A' Level programmes, in addition to the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education. The quality of DSS schools is strictly monitored by the government; school fees are significantly lower than those charged by international schools and private independent schools.

The Education Facilities Sub-committee, of which I am a member, was formed last year under the City Owners’ Committee. We met with officials from the Education Bureau (EB) in November 2010 to follow up the school project allocated to the Catholic Diocese in 2002.  In the light of the views we expressed at the meeting concerning the school situation in DB, EB discussed with parties concerned and has made positive progress.

In line with EB’s preliminary assessments made in November 2010, it now plans to kick-start the project and commence the technical feasibility in early 2012 with a view to completing the project in 2016.  The above is premised on the circumstances that the updated projections of demand and supply of school places, as well as the enrolment situation of existing schools in the district, remain to justify the building of a new primary-cum-secondary school by 2016.   EB will further discuss with the school sponsoring body details of the project and keep track of the latest enrolment statistics of schools by September 2011.

I can tell you that the only existing DSS school offering flexible curriculum in our district, the secondary school YMCA of Hong Kong Christian College in Tung Chung, has announced that years Form 1 to Form 3 are full for September 2011 and has a long waiting list similar to Discovery College and Discovery Bay International School. I will keep you posted of further developments in the near future.

Meanwhile, if you have any questions or views on this project please let me know.  I will relay your opinions to EB.

Attached is a list of DSS schools throughout Hong Kong, with current school fees and web link, for your reference and information.

Please feel free to forward this email to your friends and neighbours in DB.

Yours sincerely

Amy Yung

Islands District Council Member (Discovery Bay)