A full set of textbooks for a student entering secondary school could cost up to HK$7,000, as Education Bureau data showed prices had risen 3.6 per cent for the coming school year. Education Secretary Christine Choi said she was very concerned about the reported cost and did not rule out providing more supplementary teaching materials or other resources, but made no firm commitment to a new measure.
The government will continue providing textbook assistance through existing targeted schemes for families in need, Choi said. She rejected lowering the eligibility threshold or restoring the non-means-tested HK$2,500 student grant, which was discontinued in the 2025–26 school year.
The immediate details of any response remain unsettled. The final eligibility rules and funding levels for the existing assistance schemes, as well as whether additional teaching materials or other measures will be introduced, have not been specified.
Separately, the government plans to offer three sites for the proposed Hung Shui Kiu university town simultaneously next month. The sites, in the Northern Metropolis area, cover about 22 hectares.
Institutions will be able to apply for the sites independently or jointly, and the government will not set a minimum or maximum number of institutions for any one site. The Education Bureau said it had received 19 written expressions of interest from local institutions. Overseas institutions had mainly expressed interest verbally at that stage and had not formally submitted written applications.
Institutions in the Northern Metropolis university town are expected to operate on a self-financing basis. The government has reserved a HK$10 billion loan facility to support campus construction, but said the amount and its use would be reviewed dynamically in line with development, loan usage and future needs.