Gov’t confirms Pui Ching application received for new campus

Pui Ching Middle School have filed an application with the government for a new campus, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Elsie Ao Ieong, confirmed yesterday.

Ao Ieong was asked about the matter on the sidelines of the plenary meeting of the Cultural Development Advisory Committee.

Ao Ieong confirmed that the government had received an application from Pui Ching to operate an international school but noted no approval has been granted so far, as first reported by the Times on Wednesday.

Adding to that, she confirmed that educational entities, including Pui Ching, do from time to time make submissions to the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ). “We will [consider] the need, as well as the resource and space available, to decide whether their [submissions] will be [accepted],” the Secretary explained.

“We are [considering] their [submissions] and hope to make an announcement as soon as possible,” Ao Ieong added.

In a response to an enquiry by the Times on Wednesday, the DSEDJ confirmed that the land plot in question had been planned for social facilities, “which will include the building of campus facilities, whose construction is underway,” the bureau noted.

Echoing the Secretary’s comments yesterday, the bureau stressed that it has “for a long period received applications from various entities for land or facilities for education purposes, which included those from educational entities requesting to operate [a] campus on Lot 12a,” it disclosed in the reply.

The bureau also stressed that it would analyze each application based on a variety of factors. The results of such analyses will be announced when available. AL