To promote Hong Kong-Mainland sister school exchanges, the Education Bureau (EDB) launched a three-year Pilot Scheme on Promoting Interflows between Sister Schools in Hong Kong and the Mainland (the Pilot Scheme) with effect from the 2015/16 school year, through which financial and professional support were provided to public sector and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools that had formed sister schools with their counterparts in the Mainland. Schools showed good response and in general were positive to the Pilot Scheme.
To further promote the continuous and multi-faceted development of sister school activities, EDB has regularised the Pilot Scheme with effect from the 2018/19 school year, through which recurrent grant and professional support have been provided to public sector and DSS schools (including special schools) that have formed sister schools with their counterparts in the Mainland. The amount of the Grant for the Sister School Scheme (the Grant) is adjusted in accordance with the movement of the Composite Consumer Price Index each year. The amount of the Grant for the 2023/24 school year is $162,994.
The Grant is now open for application. Please refer to EDB Circular No. 5/2023 for details.
Local public sector and DSS primary, secondary and special schools having formed sister schools with their counterparts of the same level in the Mainland, either through the coordination of EDB or on their own initiative, can apply for the Grant. Starting from the 2023/24 school year, the above-mentioned local schools that have formed sister schools with their counterparts of different levels (including primary, secondary and special schools) in the Mainland are also eligible for applying for the Grant. To facilitate the intended plans and objectives of sister school exchanges of the school year, schools may flexibly use the Grant in accordance with their school-based development needs to arrange exchange activities in different modes at various levels, including students, teachers and school management.
Each school receiving the Grant is required to prepare a Plan on Sister School Exchanges of the school year and a Report on Sister School Exchanges 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.