PAC member was first to disclose names to the media

The government has identified four schools tagged by the Audit Commission for inefficiencies and inappropriate spending late Wednesday night.

That came after a member of the Legislative Council's Public Accounts Committee (PAC) disclosed the names of four schools to the media earlier Wednesday .

The Education Bureau, under pressure, released the names of the directly subsidized schools covered by the audit report. A host of traditional schools with good reputation are on the list.

Among them, Good Hope School was alleged to have invested HK$71 million in the stock market and lent money to a company.

Tai Po Sam Yuk School was alleged to have breached the cap (i.e. 15 percent of the purchase cost) on the profit from the sale of school items such as exercise books. The School has not kept record of HK$448,000 interest income from the government fund, apart from raising nearly HK$137,000 without permission from the board of governors to run 11 fund-raising activities. It also received a total of HK$52,000 in donations from school uniform and lunch box suppliers in 2006-2008.

Tak Sun Secondary School spent HK$29,000 on a staff annual dinner and apportioned the expenditure to the recurrent account of government funds.

Last week, Hong Kong Chinese Christian Churches Union Logos Academy was reported to have spent HK$10 million to buy three properties.

PAC chairman Philip Wong declined to the reveal the name of the lawmaker who made the names public nor would he speculate on what action might be taken. PAC members were required to sign a confidentiality agreement in relation to the proceedings of the committee.

The disclosure of the names of the schools and their malpractices came just days before the PAC was to hold an open hearing on the administration of schools under the direct subsidy scheme on November 29.

Lau Kong-wah, vice-chairman of Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong and a former PAC member, reckoned that the decision to disclose any information should be made collectively rather than by individual members. "If the information is not released appropriately, it will affect the credibility of the PAC," he commented.

The PAC wrote to the Education Bureau on Friday, saying it had no objection to disclosing the names of schools. The government replied on Tuesday, enclosing a report naming the schools and their "offenses" to all members, and then came the leak.

The PAC Wednesday held an internal meeting to discuss the proceedings for the Monday hearing. After the hour-long meeting, Wong told a press conference that Secretary for Education Michael Suen would attend the hearing, but school officials will not be summoned at this stage.

The Education Bureau held responsibility to identify the schools to the committee, in the public interest. "It is not the practice of the PAC to disclose information to the public bit by bit during the process and we will only come up with a report at the end of the hearing," said Wong.

He however said PAC members could ask the government the names of the schools during the hearing and it is up to the government to answer. When asked if it was unfair for the schools to be named in case of error, he replied: "I can safely conclude that the names are right."

China Daily

(HK Edition 11/25/2010 page1)