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Financial Assistance for Primary and Secondary Students (School Textbook Assistance / Student Travel Subsidy Schemes)
The Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) administers the following financial assistance schemes for needy primary and secondary students: The School Textbook Assistance (TA) Scheme is to provide assistance to needy students in government, aided, per caput grant schools and local private schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme for covering the costs of essential textbooks and miscellaneous school-related expenses. The Student Travel Subsidy (STS) Scheme is to provide travel subsidy to needy students receiving formal primary, secondary education or attending a full-time day course up to first degree level in an acceptable institution, residing beyond 10 minutes walking distance from school and traveling to school by public transport. Application for 2008 / 09 is processed in two stages, namely the “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” and the “Application by Scheme”. “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” is family-based. Applicants must be parents of the student-applicants. Otherwise, applicants must explain in detail why this cannot be compiled with in the Application Form. Provided that the reason given is acceptable, the SFAA will continue to process the application. Applicants should submit fresh application for every academic year and fill in the form the particulars of all unmarried children residing with them. Besides, each family should submit one application only. Multiple applications from the same applicant will be voided and lead to delay in processing the application. Stage 1 - Application for Assessment of Eligibility Families are provided with an Application Form B for 2008 / 09 in April 2008 if their 2007 / 08 Eligibility Certificates (ECs) submitted have reached the SFAA on or before 3 April 2008. Other families who wish to apply for student financial assistance may obtain the following application documents from District Offices or schools starting from May 2008:
Applicants are required to submit the completed application forms and copies of the relevant supporting documents to the SFAA at Tsimshatsui Post Office Box No. 96824 by post within May 2008, using the addressed envelope provided. Sufficient postage must be affixed for proper delivery of mail. If applicants have provided all necessary information, the SFAA will issue notification of result to the applicants in August 2008. For families who can pass the means test, ECs will be issued to those children whom the applicants have indicated the need for an EC in the application form. Families currently in receipt of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) should apply directly to the Social Welfare Department (SWD) for school-related assistance for their children’s examination fees, expenses on textbook and stationery, transport fares, etc. for 2008 / 09 school year. They do not need to submit “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” to the SFAA. If the student-applicants are not covered by the CSSA or are applying for the Full Fee Reimbursement (Project Yi Jin) and Fee Reimbursement (Financial Assistance Scheme for Designated Evening Adult Education Courses), such applicants may submit the “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” to the SFAA. The SFAA may request the applicant to submit a copy of the “Certificate of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance Recipients (for Medical Waivers)” issued by SWD for verification, if necessary. Families with members in receipt of Old Age Allowance and / or Disability Allowance can still submit the “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” to the SFAA for financial assistance. All "Applications for Assessment of Eligibility" submitted on or after 1 June 2008 will be handled by the SFAA after the applications received in May are processed. Notification of result to these applicants will therefore be deferred. If applicants need to apply for the School Textbook Assistance, their “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” should reach the SFAA on or before 31 October 2008 . Otherwise, School Textbook Assistance will not be released even if they can pass the means test. If applicants submit their “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” on or after 1 November 2008, payment of student travel subsidy (if applicable) to the successful student-applicants may be effected from the date of approval for application. In general, the SFAA will not accept any “Application for Assessment of Eligibility” submitted on or after 1 March 2009. The SFAA may give special consideration to cases with exceptional circumstances. If applicants need to apply for student financial assistance on or after 1 March 2009 for their children attending course that commences during the period from 1 March 2009 to 31 May 2009, they should approach relevant institutions for details of the application procedures and deadlines. They should also submit application documents to the institutions, which will forward them to the SFAA for processing. Stage 2 - Application by Scheme Applicants must select the appropriate Scheme(s) in the EC they want to apply for their children and submit the completed EC to the school in which the child is attending within the designated period. In general, the SFAA will not accept any EC submitted after the deadline. Schools will certify the student-applicants’ status and attendance and then forward the ECs to the SFAA according to the schedule. Applicants who have any enquiries concerning the eligibility and application procedures may contact the SFAA at 8226 7067, or write to the SFAA at Tsimshatsui Post Office Box No. 96824. The SFAA will use the "Adjusted Family Income" (AFI) mechanism as the means test to assess the eligibility of a family for student financial assistance and its assistance level. The AFI mechanism is based on the following formula:
The AFI eligibility benchmarks for various levels of assistance in the 2008 / 09 are listed below. Please note that the AFI is not the average monthly income of a family.
School Textbook Assistance For 2008 / 09 school year, the Textbook Grant Rates for various forms are listed as follows:
Student Travel Subsidy The subsidy is calculated on the basis of the average unit fare relevant to the districts in which the student studies and resides during term time. Payment Arrangements and Payment Dates The SFAA will release financial assistance by autopay to those students who are confirmed to be eligible for the respective Schemes applied. However, due to the large number of applications received, notification will not be issued to individual applicant. The SFAA will notify applicant of the payment dates via the school their child is attending so that the applicant can check their bank passbook as appropriate. The SFAA will arrange School Textbook Assistance and Student Travel Subsidy payment normally in October and November respectively. |
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