About the Scheme

Generally speaking, schools which have joined the Sister School Scheme and/or the Pilot Scheme on Promoting Interflows between Sister Schools in Hong Kong and the Mainland will only be required to submit the completed application form (i.e. Annex 2 to the Education Bureau (EDB) Circular (C) No. 5/2023).  Other documents are not required.  However, if schools have formed sister school pairs with their Mainland counterparts through other means on their own initiative and have not reported such pairs to EDB before, they must also submit the completed Reporting Form on Mainland Sister Schools (Annex 3 to EDBC No. 5/2023) to EDB together with copies of relevant supporting documents.

No.  Each school is only required to prepare a Plan on Sister School Exchanges (Plan) of the school year and a Report on Sister School Exchanges (Report) of the previous school year, which are to be incorporated in the Annual School Plan and School Report respectively for endorsement by the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC)/School Management Committee (SMC), and upload them onto the school website by the end of November each year.  Please note that only basic and concise information are to be included in the Plan and Report.  For preparation of the Plan and Report (preferably not more than two pages and four pages respectively), schools can make reference to the Plan and Report templates provided on EDB’s webpage for the Sister School Scheme.

Yes.  In addition to one-to-one exchanges, schools having more than one sister school in the Mainland may develop “bilateral exchanges” into “multilateral exchanges” by establishing networks with all of their sister schools to expand the modes and enhance the effectiveness of exchanges.

The school is eligible to apply for the Grant for the Sister School Scheme if it can provide a written confirmation of the relationship with its Mainland counterpart, and that the relevant supporting documents can clearly indicate that the objectives of exchanges and collaboration between the two schools are in line with those of EDB’s Sister School Scheme.

Yes, provided that the sister schools are primary, secondary or special schools which are nationally recognised.  If schools wish to use the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant) to conduct exchanges with their newly formed sister schools, they should submit in advance the Reporting Form on Mainland Sister Schools (i.e. Annex 3 to the EDB Circular No. 5/2023) together with copies of relevant supporting documents to EDB.  A subsequent reply will be provided to the schools upon receipt of the documents.  Nonetheless, schools will receive the same amount of the Grant regardless of their number of sister schools.

Schools are at liberty to liaise with their Mainland sister schools about the content of the pairing-up documents, as long as the documents clearly indicate their relationship as sister schools.  Reference can be made to the sample sister school contract on EDB’s webpage for the Sister School Scheme.

If schools have not formed sister school pairs with their Mainland counterparts at the time of application but wish to do so through the coordination of EDB, we will liaise on their behalf with the Mainland education authorities for the purpose.  Given that the time required for pairing up sister schools varies by Mainland provinces and municipalities as well as school types, schools will be notified as soon as the pairing is completed.  As for Hong Kong schools which plan to form sister school pairs with their Mainland counterparts on their own initiative, they should apply for the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant) from EDB only after their sister school pairs have been formed.  These two types of schools will receive the Grant for the respective school year (in terms of the year in which the Grant is disbursed) only in the subsequent September or April after they have formed sister school pairs and submitted an application for the Grant.  Generally speaking, if a school is first approved of the Grant in April, the amount of the Grant will be calculated on a pro rata basis with reference to the month in which the sister school pair was formed as shown in the supporting documents submitted and the amount of the Grant for the respective school year.

If, prior to applying for the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant), schools have already formed sister school pairs in the Mainland (e.g. schools formed sister school pairs with their Mainland counterparts several years ago but have never submitted an application for the Grant), and that they have submitted the completed application form together with the Reporting Form on Mainland Sister Schools (i.e. Annex 3 to the EDB Circular No. 5/2023) and copies of relevant supporting documents to EDB on or before 15 July, they will receive the first tranche of the Grant (i.e. half of the entire Grant receivable in the respective school year) in September of the next school year, and the second tranche of the Grant (i.e. the remaining half of the Grant receivable in the respective school year) in the subsequent April.  Late applications may render schools not being able to receive the Grant in September of the next school year/April of the current school year.

Schools may flexibly make use of the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant) to arrange different modes of sister school exchange activities at school management, teacher, student levels, etc.  In addition, schools should allocate the Grant properly (including determining whether to use the Grant to subsidise students and the respective amount of the Grant to be allocated) to achieve the plans and objectives of sister school exchange activities for the school year.

Schools may make use of the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant) to arrange different sister school exchange activities having regard to their specific circumstances.  As the Grant is a designated funding, schools shall use the Grant to meet the expenses of sister school exchange activities and relevant support relating to the objectives of the Sister School Scheme.  To ensure that expenditures incurred are reasonable and necessary for educational purpose in a cost-effective manner, schools are required to observe the established principles and requirements on the use of public funds as promulgated by EDB when using the Grant.  For details, please refer to EDBC No. 5/2023.

The Grant for the Sister School Scheme must be used to meet the expenses of sister school exchange activities and relevant support relating to the objectives of the Sister School Scheme.  Schools should make use of other grants/resources to cover all the expenses not related to sister school exchange activities.

Yes, provided that the relevant expenses on sister school exchange activities taking place in Hong Kong do not include the travelling, boarding or lodging expenses for the school personnel and students of Mainland sister schools on their visits to Hong Kong.

Schools are encouraged to make good use of the Grant for the Sister School Scheme to organise rich and diversified exchange activities with their sister schools.  Should schools consider it necessary to purchase video-conferencing facilities for sister school exchange activities, they must carefully review the ratio of these expenses to the exchange expenditure to ensure that the relevant expenses are necessary and reasonable.

No.  However, schools should ensure that all invoices and receipts of expenses for sister school activities are maintained properly to facilitate easy inspection as and when necessary.

Schools may deploy the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant) to arrange exchange activities with their sister schools based on their development needs at student, teacher, school management levels, etc.  Since school supervisors and school managers are members of the school management, schools may use the Grant to cover their expenses incurred in relation to sister school exchange activities.  Regarding parents, unless they are the school managers who participate in the sister school exchange activities in the capacity of the school management, the Grant should not be used to cover their expenses.

EDB commissions service contractor(s) to provide professional support to schools joining the Sister School Scheme, including organising various exchange activities of different types and themes for sister schools in individual regions, organising sister school contract-signing ceremonies, briefings and experience-sharing sessions, coordinating the pairing-up arrangements, providing advice on the arrangements of exchange activities, assisting schools in the organisation of exchange activities, as well as collecting and disseminating good practices.

Schools are required to arrange sufficient manpower according to the established requirements on student-to-teacher ratio when conducting exchange activities.  For details, please refer to the “School Activities Guidelines” webpage on EDB’s website at the following path:

Home > School Administration and Management > Administration > About Activities > School Activities Guidelines

Written approval has been given to principals and teachers of aided schools to take paid special leave to attend the aforementioned sister school exchange activities on the conditions that-

• the relevant sister school exchange activities are professional development activities for principals or teachers; and
• the timing of the sister school activities follows the principle that school operation will not be affected and proper arrangements (including assigning suitable reliefs for the principals/teachers concerned) will be made to ensure undisrupted delivery of routine teaching and administrative work, and that consent to such arrangements has been obtained from the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC)/School Management Committee(SMC); and
• the IMC/SMC has approved and processed the leave applications of principals or teachers in accordance with established policies and principles and ensured that the arrangements concerned are fair and consistent.  In addition, the IMC/SMC has the responsibility to handle relevant complaints, if any, received by the school.

If a principal or a teacher takes paid leave of more than 3 days during his/her acting period to attend sister school exchange activities, the number of leave days will not be counted as part of the qualifying period for acting allowance and will result in the forfeiture of acting allowance for the whole period of paid leave (including the leave days and intervening public holidays and Sundays).  For details, please refer to EDBC No. 8/2004.

The Sister School Scheme (the Scheme) serves as a platform for professional interflows and cooperation for Hong Kong primary, secondary and special schools, enabling them to organise exchange activities with their Mainland counterparts at various levels based on their development needs.  One of the objectives of the Scheme is to deepen teachers’ and students’ understanding of the Mainland/Hong Kong.  Therefore, the Grant for the Sister School Scheme can only be used to cover expenses in relation to sister school exchange activities held in the Mainland or Hong Kong.