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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. From September 2005 onwards, the ambit of the Scheme has been expanded to cover children attending full-time programmes in child care centres.
Eligibility
| (a) |
The student-applicant must be:
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(i) |
Hong Kong residents with right of abode, right to land or valid permission to remain without any condition of stay (other than limit of stay) in Hong Kong ; |
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and |
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(ii) |
(1) |
Nursery, Lower and Upper classes in Kindergarten (K1 to K3) |
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at least 2 years and 8 months old as at 31 August 2008 (i.e. born on or before 31 December 2005) and studying in kindergartens of which their school year starts in August or September. Those who were born on or after 1 January 2006 are not eligible to apply for the KCFRS in the 2008/09 school year, even when they reach the age of 3 during the school year. Their parents should submit applications in the 2009/10 school year instead; and |
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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 2(c) below, the kindergarten should be a non-profit-making kindergarten, offering local curriculum and eligible for voucher redemption (charging a tuition fee not exceeding $24,000 per student per annum (pspa) for a half-day place and not exceeding $48,000 pspa for a whole-day place). Parents may refer to http://chsc.edb.hkedcity.net/kindergarten/ for information on the list of kindergartens joining the PEVS and eligible for voucher redemption. |
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or |
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(2) |
Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3) |
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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). |
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| (b) |
The KCFRS is not applicable to children holding visitor visas, two-way exit permits, student visas or who are dependents of non-local students/ student-visa /visitor-visa holders. |
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| (c) |
Transitional Arrangement |
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(i) |
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 in the 2008/09 school year while studying in the same kindergarten. |
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(ii) |
Students who are attending the same kindergarten that is not eligible for the PEVS in the 2007/08 and 2008/09 school years but who were already receiving fee remission under the KCFRS in this kindergarten in the 2006/07 school year will continue to be eligible for assistance under the KCFRS, subject to their continuously passing the means test, until their completion of pre-primary education in the same kindergarten. |
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| (d) |
Those in receipt of the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) need not apply on their own for the KCFRS. SWD will attend to the applications of these children collectively and refer them to the Student Financial Assistance Agency (SFAA) for further processing where appropriate. However, if a student-applicant is not included under the family's CSSA, the applicant may forward the completed application form for the student to the SFAA together with a copy of a valid 'Certificate of CSSA Recipients (for Medical Waivers)' issued by SWD in support of the application for processing. In any case, 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. |
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| (e) |
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 use in the 2008/2009 school year together with the guidance notes to the kindergartens/child care centres before the commencement of the school year for distribution to the student parents. 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 studying.
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 2008/2009 school year or upon admission but not later than the end of the current school year. Please note, however, 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 pupils are admitted to the kindergarten, whichever is the later.
Method of Assessment
- All applications are subject to means test.
- The Adjusted Family Income (AFI) mechanism will be used to assess the applicants' eligibility for and level of assistance.
- 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.
- Gross annual income of the family includes the annual income of the applicant and the spouse; 30% of the annual income of unmarried children residing with the family; the contributions from other children and relatives / friends; and other income if applicable.
- Family members normally refer to the applicant, the spouse, the unmarried children and the parents residing with the family/dependent parents.
- 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, 1/2 remission and no assistance are as follows:
| AFI between (HK$) |
Award |
| 0 to 20,156 |
Full remission (100%) |
| 20,157 to 29,300 |
3/4 remission (75%) |
| 29,301 to 53,829 |
1/2 remission (50%) |
| Over 53,829 |
No remission |
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- With effect from September 2005, for pupils attending full-day kindergarten programmes, applicant families must pass the AFI means test and the 'social need' test to qualify for the full-day rate of fee remission. Otherwise, they should only receive remission at half-day session rate (i.e. the school fee for the AM session or the half-day fee remission ceiling, whichever is the less. If the kindergarten does not operate any half-day classes, the fee remission ceiling for half-day class will apply). Those already in receipt of the full-day rate of kindergarten fee remission in August 2005 will not be subject to the 'social need' test.
- For children attending full-day child care centres programmes, applicant families must pass the AFI means test and the 'social need' test to qualify for the fee remission. Otherwise, they will be ineligible for any fee remission.
Level of Fee Remission
There are 3 levels of fee remission for the 2008/2009 school year, namely 50%, 75% and 100%.
Amount of Fee Remission
| (a) |
Computation Method of Fee Remission: |
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After the launching of the PEVS, the Student Financial Assistance Agency (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 part of or the entire amount of the actual fee, 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 or child care centres: |
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(i) |
Kindergarten Nursery, Lower and Upper classes (K1 to K3) |
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Half-day class monthly fee remission |
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Annual tuition fee or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance – voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy |
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No. of operating months of the kindergarten |
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Whole-day class monthly fee remission |
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[Annual tuition fee or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance – voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy] |
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[Actual monthly meal charge or maximum meal allowance (whichever is the less) x level of assistance] |
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No. of operating months of the kindergarten |
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(ii) |
Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3) |
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Monthly fee remission |
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Monthly fee inclusive of meal charge or fee remission ceiling (whichever is the less) x level of assistance |
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| (b) |
Fee Remission Ceiling: |
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(i) |
Kindergarten Nursery, Lower and Upper classes (K1 to K3) |
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Half-day class |
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$16,000 per student per annum |
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Whole-day class |
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$25,400 per student per annum |
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Maximum meal allowance (whole-day class only) |
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$400 per student per month |
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The voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy for each eligible student-applicant in the 2008/09 school year is $11,000. After deducting the voucher value dedicated towards fee subsidy, the actual annual fee remission of half-day and whole-day classes in 2008/09 for each level of assistance is shown as follows: |
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Half-day class fee remission |
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Assistance Level
(A) |
Max. Annual Fee Subsidy
(B = $16,000 x A ) |
Voucher Value dedicated towards fee subsidy in 2008/09
(C) |
Max. Annual Fee Remission
(B – C) |
Full remission
(100%) |
$16,000 |
$11,000 |
$5,000 |
3/4 remission
(75%) |
$12,000 |
$11,000 |
$1,000 |
1/2 remission
(50%) |
$8,000 |
$11,000 |
$0* |
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Whole-day class fee remission (meal allowance excluded) |
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Assistance Level
(A) |
Max. Annual Fee Subsidy
(B = $25,400 x A) |
Voucher Value dedicated towards fee subsidy in 2008/09
(C) |
Max. Annual Fee Remission
(B – C) |
| Full remission (100%) |
$25,400 |
$11,000 |
$14,400 |
| 3/4 remission (75%) |
$19,050 |
$11,000 |
$8,050 |
| 1/2 remission (50%) |
$12,700 |
$11,000 |
$1,700 |
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* For students enrolled in half-day classes whose families are eligible for half fee remission under the 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. |
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(ii) |
Child Care Centre (group aged 0-2)/Child Care Centre (group aged 2-3) |
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The fee remission ceiling (inclusive of meal
charges) for the 2008/09 school year are as follow:
Group aged under 2 $4,735
Group aged 2-3 $3,153
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Release of Results and Method of Payment
The SFAA will inform the applicants direct the result of their applications in writing and arrange payment of the remitted fees to them through the kindergartens/child care centres in which their children are studying.
In general, if the information provided is complete, the applicant will be notified of the result in about two months' time from the date of the SFAA received the application. However, the processing time will vary, depending on the circumstances of each application. For example, 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. Another example is that if the SFAA has to seek additional information from other government departments or institutions, the processing time will also be longer.
Applicants who have enquiries concerning their applications or wish to seek a review of the result 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.
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