Student Grant

Background

As part of the $19.1 billion relief measures announced by the Financial Secretary in August 2019, a one-off student grant of $2,500 for each secondary day-school, primary school and kindergarten student was provided in the 2019/20 school year to alleviate parents’ financial burden in defraying education expenses.  The provision was approved by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council on 6 December 2019.  According to the Chief Executive’s 2019 Policy Address, the provision of the student grant has been regularised starting from the 2020/21 school year.

Eligibility Criteria

The student grant is non-means-tested. All students (Note 1), as at the date of application, studying in secondary day-schools, primary schools and special schools (including public sector schools, Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools, English Schools Foundation schools and private schools) as well as kindergartens (whether having joined the kindergarten education scheme or not) offering local or non-local curriculum in Hong Kong, are eligible for the grant. Students of evening schools, students of private studies, holders of student visas for entry into Hong Kong for studies and students holding Recognizance Forms issued by the Immigration Department are not within the scope of subsidy.

[Note 1: Kindergarten students have to be at the age of two years and eight months or above as at 1 September of the school year in order to be eligible for the student grant.]

Taking into account that there are some students who should meet the eligibility criteria stated in the above but are enrolled in other programmes owing to special circumstances, we also deem the following students eligible for the grant:
(a) Children at the age of two years and eight months or above as at 1 September of the school year concerned attending Special Child Care Centres subsidised by the Social Welfare Department owing to special needs;
(b) Newly arrived children attending the full-time Initiation Programme funded by the Education Bureau (EDB); and
(c) Students taking full-time programmes for Secondary 3 school leavers offered by the Vocational Training Council.

Application Arrangements

All secondary day-schools, primary schools, special schools and kindergartens are informed about the arrangements of providing day-school students with the student grant in the relevant circular memorandum issued in late August each year.  Starting from the 2024/25 school year, electronic submission (e-submission) of student grant applications will be expanded to private schools and kindergartens, covering all school types.  Parents can apply for the grant for all eligible students by e-submission.  To cater for the needs of individual parents, apart from making e-submission, parents can still opt to fill out the paper application form and submit it to the school for further processing.  However, only one application, either in electronic form (e-form) or paper form, can be submitted for each eligible student.  (the circular memorandum for the 2024/25 school year is EDB Circular Memorandum No. 182/2024)

E-Submission of Applications

Applicants must have an “iAM Smart+” account with a digital signing function.  They may log in to the online service of “e-Submission of Student Grant Applications” via the “iAM Smart” App direct, or click the link ( https://stgsesweb.edb.gov.hk/ ) to log in to the e-platform to submit e-applications.

The e-platform will open at 6:00 a.m. on 13 September 2024 and close after 11:59 p.m. on 2 October 2024.  Schools should verify the student’s status within 14 days after the e-submission by an applicant.  For more information on e-submission, please refer to the Parent’s Guide. 

• Parent’s Guide on “e-Submission of Student Grant Applications”

Paper Applications

EDB will distribute the “Student Grant” paper application forms via schools.  For the paper application forms, there are Form A and Form B.  Form A is a blank form (applicable to students who are newly admitted to a school or those who have transferred to another school in the current school year) which can be downloaded for use via the link below.  Form B is pre-printed with the basic information of the student and the applicant (applicable to students who received the student grant in the previous school year and are studying in the same school) and will be distributed by schools. 

• Form A   

The paper application forms will be distributed through the students’ attending schools starting from 9 October 2024.  The completed paper application forms must be submitted through the schools that the students concerned are attending.  Schools should stamp a school chop on each paper application form to certify that the student concerned is their student.  The deadline for applications for the student grant in the 2024/25 school year is 13 November 2024.  Parents should return the completed and signed paper application forms via school to Student Special Support Section Kwun Tong Office of EDB.

Disbursement of Grant

The student grant will be disbursed to applicants via bank transfer.  Applicants are required to provide full information on their bank account.  The name of the applicant must be the same as the bank account holder.  Bank account number should include bank code.  Incomplete information will lead to failure in bank transfer. Applicants should refer to the bank statement/passbook for the bank code, or refer to the “Video on how to fill in the application form (including how to fill in the bank account information correctly)” and “List of Common Bank Codes” under Reference below.  In case of doubt, applicants may wish to check with their banks.
 

Progress Reports

EDB will inform applicants of their application status via SMS and/or email.  Applicants can also check the status on the e-platform.  To assist schools to communicate with parents/guardians on issues related to the student grant, EDB will provide schools with progress reports on the applications via the Student Grant System (STGS) (https://stgsfile.edb.gov.hk/) on a regular basis, which will help schools better understand the progress of the applications and respond to parents' enquiries as appropriate.  To download the progress reports and other documents, schools should access STGS via the Common Log-On System (CLO) either using a master school administrator account of EDB e-Services Portal or a school administrator account of the CLO.  Schools can also assign their staff to assist in handling student grant-related matters by using the delegation function of the CLO.

Reference

• Video on how to fill in the paper application form (including how to fill in the bank account information correctly)
• List of Common Bank Codes 
• Frequently asked questions 
• EDB Circular Memorandum No. 182/2024 

Enquiries

For enquiries, please contact the Student Special Support Section Kwun Tong Office of EDB (email: stgenquiry@edb.gov.hk; hotline: 3850 2000; address: Unit 1001-3, 10/F, Kwun Tong View, 410 Kwun Tong Road, Kowloon.) Please provide student name, school name, parent name and contact number to facilitate follow-up.