The Education Bureau today announced that it will provide one-off grants for kindergartens which have joined the kindergarten education scheme, as well as Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools and caput schools, to enhance their ventilation.

The bureau issued a circular memorandum or a letter to these schools to explain the details of the grants, which involves a total expenditure of about $70 million.

It said that in view of the persistent severity of the COVID-19 epidemic, schools should increase their alertness and conduct comprehensive ventilation assessments for their school premises. Appropriate enhancement measures should then be taken as soon as practicable to maintain proper indoor ventilation at schools.

There are two types of grants for eligible kindergartens - one for the procurement of a ventilation assessment service and another for buying air purifiers.

Each kindergarten will receive a one-off grant capped at $15,000 to procure professional service for ventilation assessment of school premises. They should adopt proper improvement measures based on the assessment results and recommendations.

If such measures could not be completed within a short period of time, schools should install air purifiers that comply with relevant standards as soon as possible to improve indoor ventilation.

In this regard, kindergartens with 66 or less students will get a grant of $20,000, while those with 67 or more students will receive a grant of $35,000.

For DSS and caput schools, the bureau will provide each school with a one-off grant capped at $400,000 according to their actual expenses of procuring ventilation assessment services and implementing necessary enhancement measures in order to fulfil the requirements recommended by registered contractors.

The bureau noted that the grants will be directly disbursed to eligible kindergartens this month, while DSS and caput schools can submit applications and the grant will be disbursed as early as possible.

Schools which are not under the kindergarten education scheme and private schools are also advised to conduct ventilation assessments and take appropriate follow-up action.

Meanwhile, the ventilation assessments for all aided schools have been completed and the bureau is following up on the necessary enhancement measures.

Such assessments and relevant works are also being carried out in phases in government schools.