| (a) | improvement of the Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students with effect from 2008/09 academic year by -
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| (i) | providing means-tested loans to students under the Scheme to cover their living expenses, and
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| (ii) | extending the Scheme to cover sub-degree graduates studying full-time locally-accredited self-financing degree or top-up degree programmes in Hong Kong;
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| (b) | supplementary provision of $55 million under Head 173 Student Financial Assistance Agency Subhead 228 Student financial assistance for meeting the additional grant assistance in 2008-09 arising from the proposal in paragraph (a)(ii) above;
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| (c) | modification of the Start-up Loan Scheme with effect from the 2008/09 academic year by -
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| (i) | expanding the scope of the Scheme so as to offer loans to course providers of full-time locally-accredited self-financing post-secondary programmes for enhancing teaching and other ancillary facilities; and
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| (ii) | extending the loan repayment period under the Scheme from no more than ten years to no more than 20 years for existing borrowing institutions with proven financial difficulties, subject to the payment of interest at the no-gain-no-loss rate after the interest-free period in the first ten years; and
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| (d) | creation of a new commitment of $100 million under Head 156 Government Secretariat : Education Bureau Subhead 700 General non-recurrent for providing one-off grants to support quality enhancement initiatives of self-financing post-secondary institutions.)
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