Lawmakers call for re-allocation of education, health care funding

Lawmakers called for strategic reallocation of funds in education and healthcare, as they highlighted the need for more preschool and applied sciences support as well as greater transparency in healthcare spending.

This came after Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po on Sunday signaled potential cost-cutting measures in education and healthcare.

Speaking on a radio program on Monday, lawmaker Lau Chi-pang, also an associate vice president of Lingnan University, said the Financial Secretary should consider the entire educational sector as a whole and develop a comprehensive plan.

The sector has indicated that subsidies for preschool education and applied sciences were insufficient, Lau noted, urging the government to allocate more resources to preschool education within the education budget.

He also said the major universities currently rely on government subsidies, research funding, donations and tuition fees as their main sources of income.

Lau suggested that universities could consider bringing in support from the business sector to fund university research.

"[We should] encourage university professors and researchers to engage with the market, connect with market resources to promote research, and then apply the research in the market," he said.

Speaking on the same radio program, medical lawmaker David Lam Tzit-yuen said the Hospital Authority's expenses are visible, but there is no public disclosure of the number of surgeries performed annually in public hospitals and the cost per surgery.

Lam said that changes should be made to improve transparency and openness, or else the government will find it difficult to continue providing unlimited funding.

(Marcus Lum)