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 for their children to receive pre-primary services. In the 2011/12 school year, parents of children attending Nursery (K1), Lower (K2) and Upper (K3) classes in eligible local non-profit-making kindergartens / kindergarten-cum-child care centres / schools offering kindergarten classes (hereafter collectively referred to as kindergartens) may receive fee subsidy through the Pre-primary Education Voucher Scheme (PEVS) introduced since 2007. The fee subsidy under PEVS for each eligible child is $16,000 in the 2011/12 school year. Kindergarten children of needy families who require financial assistance on top of the fee subsidy from PEVS may apply for fee remission under the KCFRS. In addition, KCFRS will provide assistance to children who are receiving whole-day child care services in child care centres.

* Eligibility
* Application Procedures
* Method of Assessment
* Level of Fee Remission
* Amount of Fee Remission
* Release of Results and Method of Payment
* Enquiries
* Statistics
* Frequently Asked Questions

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 2011 (i.e. born on or before 31 December 2008) and studying in kindergartens of which their school year starts in August or September. Those who were born on or after 1 January 2009 are not eligible to apply for KCFRS for kindergarten classes in the 2011/12 school year, even when they reach the age of 3 during the school year. Their parents should submit applications in the 2012/13 school year instead; and
      attending Nursery (K1), Lower (K2) and Upper (K3) classes in kindergartens registered with the Education Bureau (EDB). The kindergarten should be a non-profit-making kindergarten, offering local curriculum and eligible for voucher redemption. Parents may refer to http://www.chsc.hk/kindergarten/ for information on the list of kindergartens joining the 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 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) Pre-primary children in receipt of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) can apply direct to the Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) for joining PEVS since 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. To avoid double subsidies, children in receipt of special grant under CSSA to cover kindergarten fees will not be provided with fee remission from KCFRS for the same period.
       
(c)

Since the introduction of PEVS in 2007, needy parents with children attending kindergartens can enjoy fee subsidy from PEVS during the validity period of the Certificate of Eligibility for PEVS. In addition, they may apply for financial assistance on top of the subsidy from PEVS under KCFRS each year within (and is limited to) the validity period of the Certificate.
       

Application Procedures

The Agency has issued the fee remission application forms for the 2011/12 school year together with the guidance notes to kindergartens/child care centres at 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 only one completed application form together with supporting documents should be returned to the kindergartens/child care centres concerned in respect of each student-applicant. The kindergartens/child care centres will forward their applications to SFAA for processing. In normal circumstances, the applicants should forward their applications at the beginning of the 2011/12 school year or upon admission of their children. 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 student-applicants are admitted to the kindergarten/child care centres, 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 receiving whole-day child care services (i.e. groups aged 0 - 2 and 2 - 3), the applicant’s family must also pass the ‘social needs’ test during the same assessment period. Otherwise, they will be ineligible for any fee remission. Those receiving half-day child care services are not eligible to apply for the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme. Please note that with effect from the 2011/12 school year, children attending whole-day kindergarten when applying for the whole-day rate of fee remission do not need to go through the ‘social needs’ test so as to enhance parents’ choice of pre-primary education.

  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 100%, 75% or 50% fee remission. The AFI eligibility benchmarks for100%, 75% or 50% fee remission are as follows:

    AFI between (HK$) Assistance Level
    0 to 29,738 Full remission (100%)**
    29,739 to 36,427 3/4 remission (75%)
    36,428 to 57,502 1/2 remission (50%)
    Over 57,502 No remission


    ** AFI thresholds for full level of assistance for 3-member and 4-member families are $36,000 and $33,120 respectively. For 2-member single-parent families and 3-member single-parent families, they are regarded as 3-member families and 4-member families respectively for determining the AFI thresholds for full level of assistance and calculation of AFI.

Level of Fee Remission

There are 3 levels of fee remission for the 2011/12 school year, namely 50%, 75% and 100%.

Amount of Fee Remission

(a) Computation Method of Fee Remission
　 (i)Nursery, Lower and Upper classes in Kindergarten (K1 to K3):
Starting from the 2011/12 school year, the percentage of fee remission under KCFRS will be calculated after deducting the voucher subsidy.  The SFAA will compute the fee remission for the applicants in accordance with the level of assistance assessed using the AFI formula.  The actual fee remission will be 50%, 75% or 100% of the difference between the actual fee charged by the kindergarten or the fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less, and the voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy.  Detailed calculation is as follows:
     
　 　 Half-day class monthly fee remission =

[Annual tuition fee or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) – voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy] x level of assistance
　 　 No. of operating months of the kindergarten
　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
　 　 Whole-day class monthly fee remission = [Annual tuition fee or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) – voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy] x level of assistance + [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)
(ii)Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3)
　 The monthly fee remission will be 50%, 75% and 100% of the actual fee charged by the child care centre or the fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less. The formula used to calculate the fee remission amount is as follows: Monthly fee remission = Monthly fee inclusive of meal charge or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance
　 　 Monthly fee remission = Monthly fee inclusive of meal charge or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance
　 　 　 　 　 　 　 　
(b) Fee Remission Ceilings:
 

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

   Half-day class: $19,500 per student per annum
   Whole-day class: $31,500 per student per annum
   Maximum meal allowance (whole-day class only): $420 per student per month

The voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy for each eligible student-applicant in the 2011/12 school year is $16,000. The actual fee remission will be 50%, 75% or 100% of the difference between the actual fee or the fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less, and the voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy. The actual annual fee remission for half-day and whole-day classes in 2010/11 for each level of assistance is shown as follows:

Fee remission for Half-day class
Fee remission for Whole-day class (meal allowance excluded)

Max. Annual Fee Subsidy

(A=$19,500)

Voucher Value dedicated towards fee subsidy in 2011/12
(B)

Assistance Level

 

(C)

Max. Annual Fee Remission

(B – C)

 

Max. Annual Fee Subsidy

 (A=$31,500)

Voucher Value dedicated towards fee subsidy in 2011/12
(B)

Assistance Level

 

(C)

Max. Annual Fee Remission

(A–B) *C

$19,500

$16,000

Full remission (100%)

$3,500

 

$31,500

$16,000

Full remission (100%)

$15,500

$19,500

$16,000

¾ remission (75%)

$2,625

 

$31,500

$16,000

¾ remission (75%)

$11,625

$19,500

$16,000

½ remission (50%)

$1,750

 

$31,500

$16,000

½ remission (50%)

$7,750

(ii) Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3)
The fee remission ceilings (inclusive of meal charges) for the 2011/12 school year are as follow:

Group aged 0-2                       $4,965 per child per month
Group aged 2-3                       $3,450 per child per month

(c) Calculator for the Amount of Fee Remission:
  There is a calculator to enable you to obtain a rough assessment of the amount of fee remission you might obtain from the KCFRS. Please note that the Agency will normally accept the information reported based on the documentary proof provided. If documentary proofs provided are NOT substantiated and applicants cannot provide justifiable reasons and / or detailed calculation of income, the Agency may need to make adjustments and apply benchmark figures on the basis of statistical information provided by the relevant government departments, such as the Census and Statistics Department, to assess the income of the family. The Agency may apply projected figures in the family income in the assessment if necessary.

Release of Results and Method of Payment

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

SFAA will accept applications from kindergartens and child care centres for the 2011/12 school year with effect from August 2011. In general, if the information provided is complete, the applicant will be notified of the result in about two months’ time from the date 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, SFAA may, on 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.

Enquiries
(a) Applicants who wish to enquire about the application details or seek a review of the result may contact the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Section of SFAA.
Tel: 2154 2130
Address: Room 713-714, 7/F, Kwai Hing Government Offices, 166-174, Hing Fong Road, Kwai Chung, New Territories
       
(b) Applicants may also make use of the following means to make enquiries/obtain information about the Kindergarten and Child Care Centre Fee Remission Scheme:
Automatic telephone enquiry system: 2802 2345
Fax: 2598 5486, 2511 1148
Website: http://www.sfaa.gov.hk