$8,500 per class in grants for IT equipment

The government plans to give a one-off cash injection of HK$200 million for schools to upgrade information technology in their classrooms.

The proposal was yesterday welcomed by educators, but they urged the government to allow the schools flexibility in how they spent the money.

In a consultation paper on utilising information technology, the Education Bureau proposed granting the money to about 1,000 government-owned or government-subsidised primary and secondary schools to purchase computers and other equipment.

Senior curriculum development officer Ching Kwok-chu said the money would be commensurate with the number of classes in each school.

"We estimate each class will get about HK$8,500," he said. "We will stick to this rule even if there are only two classes in a school. We won't set a minimum amount."

He expected schools would use up the money in about three years.

Edith Tse Lai-man, headmistress of the Jordan Road Government Primary School, said the grant would be "just barely enough".

"I hope the government will lift restrictions on how to spend the money," she said.

Ms Tse's school has 18 classes and would likely get a grant of HK$153,000 under the proposal.

Besides buying more computers and visualisers - electronic imaging tools for displaying 3-D objects, artwork, printed material or live subjects - Ms Tse said she hoped to use the money to hire another IT technician, which was not allowed under the proposal.

Li Chi-shing, IT teacher at Po Leung Kuk Chee Jing Yin Primary School, welcomed the plan, but also called on the government to let schools decide how to use the money.

Education Bureau principal assistant secretary Eddie Cheung Kwok-choi said the scheme would be made as flexible as possible and schools' suggestions would be considered.

Under the Composite Information Technology Grant, a secondary school with 25 to 30 classes can get HK$294,499 a year for IT expenses, while a whole-day primary school receives HK$279,366 a year.

The government also plans to spend HK$25 million to develop an online database of teaching materials organised according to the school curriculum.

Parents will also benefit, with the government proposing to spend HK$1 million commissioning NGOs to develop resources and programmes to raise parents' computer literacy. A HK$5 million grant will be given to maintain the ITeHelp hotline, which provides technical support for schools.

Mr Cheung said the government would also scrap the IT matching-fund scheme, which has long been criticised by educators who said it had widened the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

The dollar-for-dollar plan was introduced in 2004 to improve IT infrastructure in schools. Schools must raise donations, which the bureau matches.

The public can give feedback to the Education Bureau until November 28. The government will also hold five consultation sessions for school management committee members, school heads, teachers and parents next month. The plans are to be confirmed by next January.

Lost in translation

Have you ever noticed the signs that you encounter on a daily basis? The English they use can be really awful. There is a website www.engrish.com which has all sorts of funny English people have come across in different countries.

If you are interested in doing some further reading, there is a review of the book "Lost in Translation" which is about different English signs from non English speaking countries.

Enjoy!

Sony's DSC-T2 Doesn't Need a Memory Card

The compact Cyber-shot DSC-T2 digital camera tracks smiles and stores lots of pictures with its 4GB of built-in storage.

Sony announced a nifty little point and shoot camera today that's more than just another pretty face. This 8-megapixel shooter may be small, weighing just 4.6 ounces, but inside the Cyber-shot DSC-T2 is a host of attractive features.

Link to the article.

The way ahead for railway construction

The MTR's West Island Line has been a long time coming, but has finally been given the green light. In seven years, assuming there are no hitches, we will be able to travel to and from Kennedy Town more quickly and less stressfully in the knowledge that the most environment-friendly means of transport available is taking us there.

This would not have been possible were it not for the government making an exception to its policy that the MTR Corporation be self-sustaining through fares and property development. The HK$6 billion capital grant to the MTR Corp for the HK$8.9 billion project will ensure that the line, talked about for more than two decades but not built on the grounds it would be uneconomical, is constructed. Authorities should have adopted this approach long ago. Now that they have a change of heart, they must apply it with speed to other much-needed rail projects. Hong Kong has pressing social and environmental needs that make old policies obsolete.

The rail link from Sheung Wan to Kennedy Town is a perfect example of why a rethink was needed. Too few people will use the line to ensure fare revenue covers its cost and because the area is already developed, the MTR Corp will not be able to recover construction costs by building shops, offices and housing above the three planned stations.

Yet the western part of Hong Kong Island urgently needs an alternative to the bus and tram routes that serve residents, workers and students. During peak hours, travelling times for the short distance to Central can be 20 minutes, sometimes half an hour, along the jammed roads. The choking traffic fumes attest to the unhealthy conditions this creates.

Although some of our city's sleekest residential developments are in the area, many of its neighbourhoods are run-down. The new line will help provide much-needed rejuvenation.

Our premier educational institution, the University of Hong Kong at Pok Fu Lam, is served only by buses, despite having more than 21,000 students and many visitors to its lectures and facilities. Connecting it to our clean and efficient subway system will greatly benefit this vibrant and essential part of our community.

What is true for Western District also applies to other parts of Hong Kong for which planned rail connections have not got past the discussion stage due to economics. The MTR South Island line, one of 10 big infrastructure projects foreshadowed by Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen in his recent policy address, would give similar benefits to Aberdeen. A long-sought KCR line from Sha Tin to Central would slash travelling times and boost development along the way. Better rail services to western parts of the New Territories would have a similar impact.

The government policy of ensuring rail projects pay for themselves has had a price. Districts not considered to have a large enough population to support a new line have remained unconnected to networks. This has stunted their development and put more traffic on the roads and, in consequence, increased roadside air pollution. Travelling time to work and school has cut deeply into home and social life, causing unhappiness and stress.

Given these circumstances, the government's shift in approach has to be applauded. But the West Island Line must not just be an exception - it has to become the new rail transport rule.

This way, Hong Kong can best move forward in the sustained manner expected of a city of our stature.

IT'S UP TO YOU

How much does it cost for you to buy a music CD? Maybe you can't tell now, because teenagers usually download their music illegally on the internet.

There's an English rock band, called Radiohead, which has just recently released a new album for music fans to download. The price of that album is up to you. You can pay whatever amount you want and get the album legally.

Here's the link.

Cotton stalks to generate power

Cotton stalks that farmers once burned as agricultural waste will fuel CLP's latest environmentally friendly power project in northern China and cut harmful carbon dioxide and sulfur dioxide emissions at the same time.

The Hong Kong power provider is building the cotton-stalk fired power plant in Binzhou, Boxing county, Shandong province .

It is to generate 6,000 kilowatt-hour (kWh) and operations will begin next year.

CLP owns 79 per cent of the joint venture company CLP Huanyu (Shandong) Biomass Heat and Power Company.

Shandong Boxing Huanyu Paper Company owns 21 per cent of the firm.

The power plant will collect the cotton stalks, which are agricultural waste, from the farms in the region.

Chan Ka-keung, CLP's managing director of renewables, said the plant will generate electricity for the provincial grid.

"Scientific studies show the heat energy generated from burning 1.7 tonnes of cotton stalk is equal to one tonne of coal," said Dr Chan, who added the project was in line with national policy on developing renewable energy.

In 2005 China passed a renewable energy law in order to boost the use of such energy capacity up to 10 per cent by 2020.

In 2003 China's renewable energy consumption accounted for only 3 per cent of its total energy consumption.

Local farmers and residents are expected to benefit environmentally and financially from the new power plant.

"It will cut up to 117,429 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year," said Qu Xudong, general manager of the joint venture company.

The emission of sulphur dioxide would also be cut by up to 496 per cent per year, he said, without providing any emissions figures.

Local farmers would be able to earn extra income by selling cotton stalks to the power plant.

Mr Qu said the farmers, who used to burn the cotton stalks as waste, could earn about 230 yuan per tonne, which would work out to roughly 5 per cent of a farmers' annual income.

Mr Qu said each tonne of coal cost about 600 yuan. "We burn roughly two tonnes of cotton stalk to generate the energy equivalent to one tonne of coal," he said.

"The rate of return is quite good. More importantly, both the local farmers and the power benefit from the project."

The project is CLP's eighth renewable energy project in Shandong province. The other seven are the wind farm projects in Changdao, Weihai.

JK Rowling outs Dumbledore as gay

Harry Potter author JK Rowling has revealed that one of her characters, Hogwarts school headmaster Albus Dumbledore, is gay.

She made her revelation to a packed house in New York's Carnegie Hall on Friday, as part of her US book tour.

Link to the article.