Financial Secretary Paul Chan today proposed an additional recurrent expenditure of $2 billion to achieve quality education.

Delivering his 2018-19 Budget Speech, Mr Chan said: "I propose to commit an additional recurrent expenditure of $2 billion to achieve quality education. The initiatives to be launched include enhancing the professional development of teachers, strengthening support for kindergartens, reviewing and improving integrated education, and supporting schools in enhancing promotion of life-wide learning."

He added the current-term Government, upon taking office, pledged to increase recurrent expenditure on education by $5 billion.

The Budget also proposes to allocate $2.5 billion for launching the eighth round of the Matching Grant Scheme to help the 10 publicly-funded post-secondary institutions tap more funding sources.

Another $2.5 billion will be used to set up a new Student Activities Support Fund to help students in financial need to participate in life-wide learning activities.

Mr Chan said $2 billion will be used to expedite the installation of lifts at public schools.

The Budget also proposed injecting $800 million into the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Scholarship Fund and the same amount into the Gifted Education Fund.

He added $1 billion will be used to support the work of the Youth Development Commission which will be set up in the first half of the year.

"Youth development has a significant bearing on the future of Hong Kong.

"The commission will promote youth development in a more holistic manner and address young people's concerns about education, career pursuit, home ownership, public policy discussion and debate and participation in politics."

He said the Government will also inject $8.5 billion into the Continuing Education Fund and will raise the subsidy ceiling of the fund to $20,000 per applicant to encourage the pursuit of self-enhancement.

About 610,000 recipients will benefit from the enhancements.