Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme

The Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme (KCFRS) provides parents-in-need with financial assistance in the form of fee remission so that their children can receive pre-primary services. The Scheme covers needy children receiving whole-day child care services in child care centres as well as children attending whole-day or half-day nursery, lower or upper classes in eligible local non-profit-making kindergartens or kindergarten-cum-child care centres.

* Eligibility
* Application Procedures
* Method of Assessment
* Level of Fee Remission
* Amount of Fee Remission
* Release of Results and Method of Payment
* Change of Correspondence / Residential Address
* Statistics
* Frequently Asked Questions
* Briefings

Eligibility

(a) The student-applicant must be:
  (i) Hong Kong residents with right of abode, right to land or valid permission to remain without any condition of stay (other than the limit of stay) in Hong Kong ;
  and    
  (ii) (1) Nursery, Lower and Upper classes in Kindergarten (K1 to K3)
     

at least 2 years and 8 months old as at 31 August 2009 (i.e. born on or before 31 December 2006) and studying in kindergartens of which their school year starts in August or September. Those who were born on or after 1 January 2007 are not eligible to apply for the KCFRS for kindergarten classes in the 2009/10 school year, even when they reach the age of 3 during the school year. Their parents should submit applications in the 2010/11 school year instead; and
     

attending Nursery (K1), Lower (K2) and Upper (K3) classes in kindergartens registered with the Education Bureau (EDB). Except for those subject to the transitional arrangement set out at (b) below, the kindergarten should be a non-profit-making kindergarten, offering local curriculum and eligible for voucher redemption. Parents may refer to http://chsc.edb.hkedcity.net/kindergarten/ for information on the list of kindergartens joining the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) and eligible for voucher redemption.
    or  
    (2) Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3)
     

receiving whole-day child care services in child care centres (day crèches, day nurseries or relevant classes in kindergarten-cum-child care centres) registered with EDB/Social Welfare Department (SWD).
       
(b) Transitional Arrangement
 

Kindergarten students already enrolled in private independent kindergartens eligible for voucher redemption as of the 2007/08 school year may continue to apply for fee remission under the KCFRS where there is a need for financial assistance on top of the fee subsidy for the PEVS while studying in the same kindergarten.
       
(c)

Pre-primary children in receipt of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) can apply direct to the Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) for joining the PEVS in the 2009/10 school year, as with other children at the age appropriate for pre-primary education, so as to receive fee subsidy from the voucher. If financial assistance on top of the subsidy from the voucher is required to cover the tuition fee, parents of these CSSA children should apply to the Social Security Field Unit of SWD for special grants under the CSSA Scheme. They are not required to apply separately for fee remission under the KCFRS from the SFAA. To avoid double subsidies, children in receipt of special grant under the CSSA to cover kindergarten fees will not be provided with fee remission from the KCFRS for the same period.
       
(d) Children currently benefiting from the Child Care Centre Fee Assistance Scheme (CCCFAS) of SWD who opt for the KCFRS will not be eligible for assistance under the CCCFAS again.

Application Procedures

The Agency has issued the fee remission application forms for the 2009/10 school year together with the guidance notes to kindergartens/child care centres before the commencement of the school year. Parents who wish to apply for fee remission for their children can obtain application forms and relevant documents from the kindergartens/child care centres in which their children are attending.

Fresh applications should be made every year, and applicants should return their completed application forms together with relevant supporting documents through the kindergartens/child care centres concerned. The kindergartens/child care centres will forward their applications to the Agency for processing. In normal circumstances, the applicants should forward their applications at the beginning of the 2009/10 school year or upon admission. Please note that the effective month of fee remission will be the month in which the application forms are submitted by the applicants, or the month in which the children are admitted to the kindergarten, whichever is the later.

Method of Assessment

  1. All applications are subject to means test. To qualify for the whole-day rate of fee remission for children attending whole-day kindergarten programmes or to qualify for fee remission for children receiving whole-day child care services, the applicant’s family must pass the ‘social needs’ test during the same assessment period.

  2. The Adjusted Family Income (AFI) mechanism will be used to assess the applicants' eligibility for and level of assistance.

  3. The AFI mechanism is based on the following formula:



    * For single-parent families of 2 to 3 members, the “plus 1 factor” in the divisor of the AFI formula will be increased to 2.

  4. Gross annual income of the family includes the annual income of the applicant and his/her spouse; 30% of the annual income of unmarried children residing with the family; the contributions from other children not residing with the family and relatives/friends; and other income if applicable.

  5. Family members normally refer to the applicant, his/her spouse, the unmarried children and the parents residing with the applicant’s family/the dependent parents.

  6. The calculated AFI indicates whether an applicant is eligible for assistance and if so whether the assistance level will be full remission, 3/4 remission or 1/2 remission. The AFI eligibility benchmarks for full, 3/4 and 1/2 remission are as follows:

    AFI between (HK$) Award
    0 to 20,882 Full remission (100%)
    20,883 to 30,354 3/4 remission (75%)
    30,355 to 55,767 1/2 remission (50%)
    Over 55,767 No remission


  7. Applicant with children attending whole-day kindergarten programmes who wish to receive whole-day fee remission must pass the AFI means test and the ‘social needs’ test within the same assessment period. Otherwise, they can only receive remission at half-day session rate (i.e. the tuition fee for the AM session or the fee remission ceiling for half-day classes, whichever is the less. If the kindergarten does not operate any half-day classes, the fee remission ceiling for half-day class will apply).

  8. Applicant with children receiving whole-day child care service (i.e. group aged 0 to 2 and 2 to 3) must pass the AFI means test and the ‘social needs’ within the same assessment period in order to qualify themselves for the fee remission. Otherwise, they will be ineligible for any fee remission. Those receiving half-day child care services are not eligible to apply for the KCFRS.

Level of Fee Remission

There are 3 levels of fee remission for the 2009/2010 school year, namely 50%, 75% and 100%.

Amount of Fee Remission

(a) Computation Method of Fee Remission for children attending Nursery, Lower and Upper classes in Kindergarten (K1 to K3):
　 After the launch of the PEVS, the SFAA will continue to provide fee remission to applicants in accordance with the level of assistance assessed using the AFI formula. The actual fee remission will be 50%, 75% and 100% of the actual fee or the fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less, minus the voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy. The following formula will be used to calculate the actual subsidy under the KCFRS for children attending kindergarten:
     
　 　 Half-day class monthly fee remission =

Annual tuition fee or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance – voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy
　 　 No. of operating months of the kindergarten
　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
　 　 Whole-day class monthly fee remission = [Annual tuition fee or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance – voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy] + [Actual monthly meal charge or maximum meal allowance (whichever is the less) x level of assistance]
　 　

No. of operating months of the kindergarten
　 　 　 　

(Tuition Fee Subsidy)

 　

(Meal Allowance)
(b) Computation Method of Fee Remission for children attending whole-day Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3)
　 The actual fee remission will be 50%, 75% and 100% of the actual fee or the general maximum fee assistance level, whichever is the less. The formula used to calculate the actual subsidy is as follows:
　 　 Monthly fee remission = Monthly fee inclusive of meal charge or general maximum fee assistance level (whichever is the less) x level of assistance
　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
(c) Fee Remission Ceiling:
 

(i) Kindergarten Nursery, Lower and Upper classes (K1 to K3)

   Half-day class: $18,000 per student per annum
   Whole-day class: $29,300 per student per annum
   Maximum meal allowance (whole-day class only): $400 per student per month

   The voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy for each eligible student-applicant in the 2009/10 school year is $12,000. After deducting the voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy, the actual annual fee remission of half-day and whole-day classes in 2009/10 for each level of assistance is shown as follows:

Half-day class fee remission                        Whole-day class fee remission (meal allowance excluded)

Assistance Level

 

(A)

Max. Annual Fee Subsidy

(B = $18,000 x A )

Voucher Value dedicated towards fee subsidy in 2009/10
(C)

Max. Annual Fee Remission

(B – C)

 

Assistance Level

 

(A)

Max. Annual Fee Subsidy

 (B = $29,300 x A )

Voucher Value dedicated towards fee subsidy in 2009/10
(C)

Max. Annual Fee Remission

(B – C)

Full remission (100%)

$ 18,000

$12,000

$ 6,000

 

Full remission (100%)

$ 29,300

$12,000

$ 17,300

¾ remission (75%)

$ 13,500

$12,000

$ 1,500

 

¾ remission (75%)

$21,975

$12,000

$ 9,975

½ remission (50%)

$ 12,000

$12,000

     $0 *

 

½ remission (50%)

$ 14,650

$12,000

$ 2,650

* For students enrolled in half-day classes whose families are eligible for half fee remission under the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme (KCFRS), the amount of fee remission under the KCFRS is well covered by the voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy.  Hence, these students will not receive any fee remission under the KCFRS.

(ii) Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3)
The fee remission ceiling (inclusive of meal charges) for the 2009/10 school year are as follow:

Group aged under 2                        $4,735 per child per month
Group aged 2-3                              $3,183 per child per month

   

Release of Results and Method of Payment

The SFAA will inform the applicants and the kindergartens/child care centres concerned the outcome of their applications in writing.

The SFAA will accept applications from kindergartens and child care centres for the 2009/10 school year with effect from August 2009. In general, if the information provided is complete, the applicant will be notified of the result in about two months’ time from the date the SFAA received the application from the kindergartens/child care centres. However, the processing time may vary, depending on the circumstances of the cases. If the information provided is incomplete or inconsistent, the applicant will be requested to give explanation or provide supplementary information, in which case the processing time will be longer. In addition, the SFAA may, one some occasions, have to seek additional information from other government departments or institutions for processing of the application. The processing time for such cases will also be longer.

Review of Results

Applicants who wish to seek review of the result of application may contact the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Section of the SFAA at 2154 2130 or write to the Agency at Room 713 - 714, 7/F, Kwai Hing Government Offices, 166-174, Hing Fong Road, Kwai Chung, New Territories.