For discussion PWSC(96-97)81
on 18 December 1996

ITEM FOR PUBLIC WORKS SUBCOMMITTEE
OF FINANCE COMMITTEE

HEAD 703 - BUILDINGS
Education - Tertiary/other
76ET - Practical school in area 103, Ma On Shan

Members are invited to recommend to Finance Committee the upgrading of 76ET to Category A at an estimated cost of $111.5 million in money-of-the-day prices for the construction of a practical school in area 103, Ma On Shan.

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PROBLEM
PROPOSAL
PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE
JUSTIFICATION
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
PUBLIC CONSULTATION
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS
LAND ACQUISITION
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
76ET - Practical school in area 103, Ma On Shan

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PROBLEM

The Director of Education (D of E) estimates that there is a shortfall of practical school places in the territory.

PROPOSAL

2. The Director of Architectural Services (D Arch S), with the support of the Secretary for Education and Manpower, proposes to upgrade 76ET to Category A at an estimated cost of $111.5 million in money-of-the-day (MOD) prices for the construction of a practical school in area 103, Ma On Shan.

PROJECT SCOPE AND NATURE

3. The proposed practical school will have a school section and a 120-place boarding section. The school section will comprise -

1. 15 classrooms;
2. eight workshops/special rooms;
3. two interview rooms;
4. two staff rooms;
5. a staff common room;
6. a student activity centre;
7. an assembly hall; and
8. ancillary facilities.

4. The boarding section will comprise -

1. eight self-contained living units consisting of 30 bedrooms for boarders with attached sleep-in rooms for staff;
2. living quarters for a warden;
3. a central kitchen;
4. a dining/activity room; and
5. ancillary facilities.

JUSTIFICATION

5. D of E estimates the territory-wide demand for practical school places to be 1 800. At present, there are two practical schools, namely the Hong Kong Sea School (on Hong Kong Island) and the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals C Y Ma Charity Fund Practical school (in the New Territories West). They provide a total of 900 places. We upgraded 55ET "Practical school at Mei Lai Road, Shamshuipo" to Category A in February 1996 which, upon completion in December 1997, will provide 450 places. The proposed school in Ma On Shan will provide an additional 450 places to meet the remaining shortfall.

6. Due to insufficient in-house staff resources, D Arch S proposes to engage consultants to undertake contract administration and site supervision for the construction stage.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS

7. We estimate the capital cost of the project to be $111.5 million in MOD prices (see paragraph 8 below), made up as follows -

8. Subject to approval, we will phase the expenditure as follows -

9. We have derived the MOD estimate on the basis of the Government's forecast of trend labour and construction prices for the period 1997 to 2000. We will tender the works under a fixed-price lump-sum contract because we can define clearly the scope of works in advance, leaving little room for uncertainty.

10. We estimate the annually recurrent expenditure to be $20.7 million for the operation of this school.

PUBLIC CONSULTATION

11. We consulted the Education and Welfare Committee of the Sha Tin District Board in November 1995. The Committee supported the school project.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

12. The consultants of D Arch S completed a traffic noise impact assessment in November 1996 to address the traffic noise impact from Sai Sha Road and Kam Ying Road on the proposed practical school. We shall implement the following noise abatement measures to reduce the noise impact to comply with established criteria -

1. construction of a 2.5-metres high solid wall along the north and east site boundaries;
2. provision of Type I well-gasketted windows with air-conditioning in 15 classrooms and 4 special function rooms in the classroom block; and
3. provision of Type I well-gasketted windows with air-conditioning in the 24 bedrooms in the boarding section.

We have included in the project estimate the estimated cost of $1 million required for implementing the above measures.

13. For short term impacts, we shall control dust, noise and site runoff nuisances during construction to comply with established criteria through the implementation of mitigation measures in relevant contracts.

LAND ACQUISITION

14. This project does not require land acquisition.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

15. To cater for the need of junior secondary students who have low motivation towards the common-core curriculum of grammar or pre-vocational schools, the Education Commission recommended in its Report No. 4 the setting up of practical schools. The target students are those in the 12 to 14 age group with normal intelligence but low motivation.

16. The aim of practical schools is to arouse students' interest in learning and to help students to develop a positive attitude to learning. The curriculum at practical schools pays greater emphasis on practical learning than an academic grammar school, comprising about 55% academic subjects and 45% cultural and technical/practical subjects. On completion of Secondary Three in practical schools, students are prepared for senior secondary education in grammar or pre-vocational schools, or vocational training in technical institutes, or open employment.

17. Each practical school accommodates 15 classes from Secondary One to Secondary Three with a school capacity of 450 students. The small class size of 30 students enables teachers to provide intensive and individual support for students. There is also an enhanced school social worker provision at the ratio of one school social worker to 150 students.

18. We upgraded this project to Category B in November 1995. We have completed site investigations and engaged a consultant for design and preparation of tender documents at the cost of $4.26 million, which we have charged to the block allocation Subhead 3100GX "Project feasibility studies, minor investigations and consultants' fees selected from items in Category D of the Public Works Programme". We have completed the detailed design work. We plan to start construction works in April 1997 for completion in August 1998.

(JJ145)

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Enclosure to PWSC(96-97)81

76ET - Practical school in area 103, Ma On Shan

Breakdown of the estimate for consultants' fees

Notes

1. The multiplier factor of 3 is applied to the average MPS point to arrive at the full staff costs including the consultants' overheads and profit, as the staff will be employed in the consultants’ offices. (At 1.4.1995, MPS pt. 40 = $51,440 p.m. and MPS pt. 16 = $17,270 p.m.).

2. The figures given above are based on estimates prepared by the Director of Architectural Services. We will only know the actual man-months and fees when we have selected the consultants through the usual competitive lump sum fee bid system.

(JJ145)

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