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LCQ16: Results documents for Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination 
Question:
 
It has been reported that some students were recently found to have allegedly submitted fake results documents for the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) when applying for and during enrolment to a university in Macao. The relevant authorities in Macao have now stepped up verification for academic qualifications and examination results, while the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) has also filed a police report on the incident. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the number of enquiries received by the HKEAA from institutions outside Hong Kong for establishing the authenticity of the HKDSE results in the past five years;
 
(2) of the number of cases involving suspected forgery of the HKDSE results documents uncovered by the HKEAA in the past five years;
 
(3) of the existing anti-forgery features in the HKDSE certification documents including result notice, statement of results and certification of results; whether the HKEAA has explored enhancements to anti-forgery measures for such documents; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(4) whether the Government will, by drawing reference from the practice of the Ministry of Education to establish the China Higher Education Student Information website, consider providing a unified platform that collates information on students’ academic qualifications, student status and public examination files, and offers online verification services; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
 
Reply:
 
President,
 
The Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) is a widely recognised academic qualification in Hong Kong and abroad. It is also an important credential for further studies and employment of candidates. The Education Bureau (EDB) attaches great importance to the verification of the HKDSE results to maintain the confidence of people at home and abroad in the HKDSE qualifications. Falsification or provision of fake academic qualifications is a serious offence. If any person attempts to use false documentation of results, the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) will certainly refer the case to law enforcement agencies for follow-up action. The reply to the question raised by the Hon Chu Kwok-keung is set out below:
 
(1) and (2) In the past five years, the HKEAA has received one enquiry from a non-local tertiary institution about the authenticity of the HKDSE results held by its students. After verification, the HKEAA found that the HKDSE results of the students involved in this case were forged.
 
(3) Documents such as the HKDSE results notice, certificate, statement of results and certification of results issued by the HKEAA have multiple security features, including the use of watermarked fibre paper and microprinting technology for lettering. The HKEAA has also provided candidates, tertiary institutions and employers with result verification services (Note 1) to ensure that they can obtain or verify candidates’ public examination results directly from official sources.
 
The HKEAA will annually review the various operational arrangements for the current HKDSE cohort for continuous improvements. It will also review and optimise the results verification services and security measures where necessary.
 
(4) It is understood that, as regards post-secondary institutions in Hong Kong, the Joint Universities Computer Centre, which is established by 19 post-secondary institutions and organisations (Note 2), has successfully developed and launched an inter-institutional academic certificate verification platform using blockchain technology. Post-secondary institutions and students may choose to use the platform at their own discretion. Participating institutions can digitalise and upload academic certificates of graduates to the platform, in order to allow students to share their credentials with relevant persons via the platform when seeking employment or further studies. The platform streamlines the verification of academic qualifications and helps combat forgery of credentials. As for the HKDSE, the HKEAA will closely monitor the situations and study the feasibility of developing an electronic results verification solution to enhance the efficiency of service. The EDB will closely monitor the application and development of the aforesaid qualification verification platforms and explore the feasibility of establishing a more comprehensive verification platform at a suitable juncture.
 
Notes:
1. The services include:
(a) HKDSE results extraction service: The HKEAA currently provides direct access to the results of the HKDSE for over 20 local and non-local universities, institutions and admission authorities, including the majority of the local tertiary institutions, Joint University Programmes Admissions System Office, the EDB, the respective joint admission offices of the Mainland and Taiwan, as well as a number of self-financing institutions in Hong Kong. After obtaining the consent of the student applicants concerned, the institutions may obtain the HKDSE results of the student applicants concerned directly from the HKEAA on the release date of the HKDSE or on a specified date, and the whole process is conducted without the intervention of a third party, so as to ensure the authenticity of the information; and
(b) Provision of Certification of Results: The HKEAA maintains records of candidates’ results in public examinations since its establishment in 1977. Tertiary institutions or employers who need to check the public examination results of individual applicants may request the applicants to apply to the HKEAA for the issue of a “Certification of Results”, which will be sent directly to the organisations specified by the applicants to certify the results of their public examinations.
 
2. Including the eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee; and the Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, the Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, Saint Francis University, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Vocational Training Council, Construction Industry Council, Hong Kong Chu Hai College, Tung Wah College, UOW College Hong Kong and University of Macau.
Issued at HKT 11:05

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LCQ11: Supporting students with special educational needs 
Question:
 
There are views pointing out that the support provided under the existing policy for students with special educational needs (SEN) at public sector ordinary schools is insufficient. In addition, many primary and secondary schools have relayed that due to curricula constraints, they do not have the time to take care of and support the needs of SEN students, and Special Educational Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) also find it difficult to cater for the needs of SEN students because of their heavy administrative workload. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the current number of (i) SENCOs and (ii) Special Educational Needs Support Teachers (SENSTs) in Hong Kong, and the respective average numbers of SEN students supported by each SENCO and SENST;
 
(2) of the service programmes currently provided by the Government for various types of SEN students, and the average amount of subsidies received by each student;
 
(3) whether the Government has considered allocating additional resources to provide accessible applied behaviour analysis trainings for students with autism spectrum disorder and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
 
(4) given that under the existing policy, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides pre-school support for SEN children (from birth to six years old), while the support services for school-aged SEN children over six years old are provided by schools funded by the Education Bureau, but there are views that the support services provided by the SWD and schools, as well as their effectiveness, are completely different, whether the Government will consider having the support services for SEN students provided by the SWD instead?

Reply:
 
President,
 
The Government attaches great importance to supporting students with special educational needs (SEN) and has continuously introduced enhancement measures to strengthen the support for students with different SEN. The annual expenditure on integrated education has increased substantially from $1.5 billion in the 2017-18 financial year to about $4.1 billion in the 2024-25 financial year, representing an increase of up to 170 per cent. This reflects the great importance and long-term commitment of the Government attached to integrated education. 
 
     The consolidated reply to the question raised by the Hon Gary Zhang is as follows:
 
(1) to (2) To assist public sector ordinary schools in supporting students with SEN, the Education Bureau (EDB) provides schools with additional manpower and professional support on top of regular subvention. The EDB provides schools with the Learning Support Grant (LSG) on an annual basis based on the number of students with SEN in a school and their respective tier of support required. In the 2023/24 school year, the unit grant rates for Tier-2 and Tier-3 support are $15,779 and $63,116 respectively. If the total amount of the LSG reaches a specific threshold, the schools will be provided with additional regular teaching post(s), titled Special Educational Needs Support Teacher (SENST) by the EDB. Also, the post of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) has been established in each public sector ordinary school. In the 2023/24 school year, there are 844 and 1 355 posts of SENCOs and SENSTs respectively within the staff establishment. Under the Whole School Approach (WSA), all teachers in a school should have the ability and the responsibility to support students with SEN, while the SENCO plays a leading role in collaborating with other teachers and professional support staff. Schools can flexibly pool together and effectively deploy the LSG as well as other resources based on the overall needs of students and according to the principle of “individual calculation and holistic deployment”, including employing additional teachers and teaching assistants and hiring professional services. 
 
Apart from additional teachers, the EDB provides schools with additional professional support staff. At present, the School-based Educational Psychology Service has covered all public sector ordinary schools in the territory, and the Enhanced School-based Speech Therapy Service has also been fully implemented. Besides, the EDB has launched support programmes and services to address different types of SEN so that students in need can be provided with targeted support, such as the Chinese Language Tiered Intervention Programme for students with dyslexia, the respective support programmes for students with visual impairment and hearing impairment; and the School Partnership Scheme to support ordinary schools to cater for students with intellectual disability who display severe adjustment difficulties.
 
(3) Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) are the major types of students with SEN. Schools can provide appropriate support for them according to their severity of SEN through the 3-tier Intervention Model, such as in-class adaptation and support, group training targeted for learning, emotional and behavioural adjustment, and individual education plan for students with severe learning or adaptation difficulties, so as to make the best use of resources and maximise the effectiveness. The EDB has also implemented the Project on “Whole School Approach to Providing Tiered Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder”. Through the “School-based Multi-Disciplinary Professional Support” and the “Non-Governmental Organisation and School Collaboration”, schools are assisted in adopting evidence-based and diversified strategies to help students develop their abilities in learning, social and emotional adaptation, facilitate their integration in classroom learning and the community, unleash their potential and strengthen their life planning. 
 
For students with AD/HD, the EDB has been developing a series of teaching resources for enhancing students’ execution skills and relevant software for secondary schools to facilitate individual coaching for the students concerned. Besides, the EDB organises talks and experience-sharing sessions for school personnel on a regular basis, and provides support for primary and secondary school students, parents and teachers under the Jockey Club Keen and Active Kids Project through cross-sector collaboration with university. 
 
Currently, there are various evidence-based support strategies to assist students with ASD and AD/HD, and applied behaviour analysis (ABA), which mainly reinforces positive behaviour using rewards, is one of them. The EDB has all along been promoting effective and evidence-based support strategies through teacher training and support programmes to enhance schools’ capacity to support students. In addition, a series of learning and teaching resources that make use of information technology and interactive multimedia, such as “Video Modelling”, digital interactive learning and teaching platforms, and digital learning games will be launched by phases. The elements of ABA approach have already been included in these initiatives. Schools are encouraged to deploy their resources flexibly and adopt diversified and appropriate strategies to cater for the needs of different students.
 
(4) The Government has been providing support services for children with special needs through cross-sector collaboration. In brief, the Health Bureau and the Hospital Authority (HA) provide assessment and medical services; the Social Welfare Department (SWD) provides pre-school rehabilitation services; while the EDB provides learning support.
 
Children at different stages have different needs for support. At the pre-primary level, kindergartens adopt an integrated approach of theme-based learning, enabling children to learn through a variety of games and activities based on their progress of development and learning needs. Most of the children showing slower development in individual aspects are able to gradually develop their capabilities at their own pace of personal growth. Therefore, at the pre-school level, the SWD provides subvention for non-governmental organisations to operate pre-school rehabilitation services for children with special needs under six years of age. At the primary level, students will transition to a more structured learning approach with different subjects. Schools will also gradually grasp the types of SEN of their students. By adopting the WSA, SENCOs collaborate with various professionals and subject panels in the school to cater for the learning and adaptation needs of students in a holistic manner.
 
To enhance the effectiveness of the transition from pre-school to primary schooling, a collaborative mechanism has been put in place among the EDB, the SWD, the Department of Health and the HA to ensure that the recipient primary schools can be aware of the special needs of students progressing to Primary One early, and facilitate their integration in the learning life of primary schools. Primary schools will make appropriate support arrangements according to the actual needs of students and provide parents with the “Summary of Transition Support for Primary One Student” to help them understand the support arrangements provided by schools and make suitable complements to enhance the effectiveness and promote home-school communication.
Issued at HKT 11:30

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LCQ16: Supporting local students to pursue further studies in Mainland 
(1) of the following information in relation to Hong Kong students pursuing further studies in the Mainland in each of the past three years and this year to date (set out in the table below): (i) the number of Hong Kong students studying in Mainland higher education institutions and research institutes, (ii) the number of applicants for the Mainland University Study Subsidy Scheme (MUSSS), (iii) the number of subsidy recipients under the MUSSS, (iv) the amount of subsidy involved in the MUSSS, (v) the number of applicants for the Scheme for Admission of Hong Kong Students to Mainland Higher Education Institutions (the Admission Scheme), and (vi) the number of students admitted to Mainland institutions through the Admission Scheme;