About Quality Education Fund e-Learning Ancillary Facilities Programme (QEF eLAFP)
eLAFP Background
The implementation of eLAFP is for facilitating the development, enrichment and provision of quality e-learning ancillary facilities that will have positive impact in enhancing e-learning through fostering in-depth collaboration among the school sector, tertiary institutions, educational and professional organisations as well as business sector. A total of 22 projects are being funded by QEF and commenced at the beginning of the 2023/24 school year. These projects deploy innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence and big data, to enhance learning and teaching in a wide array of subjects, benefiting primary and secondary students, as well as students with special education needs.
The development periods of the 22 projects last from two to three years. Once the deliverables are completed and fully tested by participating schools, the deliverables could be launched for use by other schools and members of the education sector upon the approval of the eLAFP Task Force. QEF has introduced a number of new measures to ensure the sustainable development of eLAFP projects. One measure is relaxing the ownership of the intellectual property (IP) rights and restriction on income generations. The Grantees will own the IP rights and may commercialise them to secure resources for continuous development of the deliverables. Besides, for each launched project, QEF will provide sponsorship for publicly-funded schools to use the deliverables for three years.
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Role of Hong Kong Education City
To facilitate the use of the deliverables by schools and other interested users, QEF has engaged Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) as a partner to jointly promote the Programme, dedicated to providing the education sector with:
- Creation of the Hong Kong Education City e-Learning Ancillary Facilities Programme (eLAFP) website, introducing and promoting quality e-learning solutions, and providing professional support services to recommend suitable deliverables for schools.
- Regular updates on programme information and organization of various types of activities (such as workshops, seminars, free trial use of the taster samples, etc.).
- Processing all subscriptions, maintaining close contact with Service Operator to ensure subscribed deliverables are successfully completed.
- Leveraging EdCity’s two major services, EdConnect and EdData, to provide secure login and user data transmission.
Launching of Deliverables
| Batch 1 | Batch 2 | Batch 3 | Batch 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of announcement for schools’ subscription | Mid-2025 | End-2025 | Mid-2026 | End-2026 |
| Start date for use by schools | Sep 2025 | Feb 2026 | Sep 2026 | Feb 2027 |
| End date for the 3-year sponsorship period | Aug 2028 | Feb 2029 | Aug 2029 | Feb 2030 |
*The launch dates are subject to the announcement on the EdCity e-Learning Ancillary Facilities Programme (eLAFP) webpage. The number of deliverables to be launched for each batch may be adjusted according to the actual circumstances without further notice.
Subscription Eligibility for Launched Deliverables
The following organizations or individuals are eligible to subscribe to the deliverables:
- All local registered schools (including secondary schools, primary schools, special schools, and international schools) and educational organizations
- Overseas schools and educational organizations
- The public interested in using the deliverables
Eligibility for the QEF’s Sponsorship
In subscribing to a launched deliverable, publicly-funded schools* may at the same time apply for sponsorship from QEF by providing brief information on how the deliverable will be used in the schools. To save schools’ administration workload in handling the procurement and related financial matters, QEF will disburse the required sponsorship to the service operators directly as subscription fee for them. The sponsorship will cover the full subscription cost of the launched deliverable at the rate approved by QEF. This means that an eligible school, under most circumstances, does not need to pay for the subscription fee(s).
*Publicly-funded schools include government schools, aided schools (including special schools), caput schools, and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) schools.
The Sponsorship from the QEF - Amount and Disbursement Arrangements
For each publicly-funded school, an amount of funding will be reserved in the form of a voucher, which is the maximum amount of sponsorship the school would benefit. To facilitate schools’ better planning and utilisation of the reserved funding, eLAFP Voucher will be provided in the following two phases:
Phase I: In the first 2 years (from the 2025/26 to 2026/27 school years), an amount will be reserved for each school to subscribe to the deliverable(s). By the end of the 2026/27 school year, any unused voucher amount will lapse. The amount allotted depends on the number of approved operating classes in the 2025/26 school year as follows:
| No. of classes | Voucher amount |
|---|---|
| 18 or below | $150,000 |
| 19 to 24 | $200,000 |
| 25 to 30 | $250,000 |
| 31 or above | $300,000 |
Phase II: QEF will provide the second round of voucher to sponsor eligible schools to use the deliverables from the 2027/28 school year onwards until the end of sponsorship period for all deliverables. In this phase, the amount allotted to an eligible school will be determined by a number of factors including school’s proposed plan on subscribing to the deliverables for use in the second phase; its track record of using the deliverables in the first phase; and the total funding available under eLAFP, etc. When the sponsorship period of all deliverables ends, any unused voucher amount will lapse.
Schools are advised to review the learning needs of their students, and exercise discretion in making the choice of deliverables to maximise the benefits for students with the eLAFP Voucher. If the allotted voucher amount has been used up or the balance is insufficient to subscribe to certain deliverable, the school concerned needs to pay the difference following the prevailing procedures/ guidelines for the procurement of e-learning resources . The school’s payment will be handled by EdCity.
Subscription Pathway
If your school has not registered an EdCity School Account, please visit:
https://www.edcity.hk/home/en/membership-school/
If your school has not registered an EdCity School Account, please visit:
https://www.edcity.hk/home/en/membership-school/
Subscription Period
The launched deliverables will be available for subscription starting from the 2025/26 school year. Some projects offer schools with flexible subscription of one school year or half school year.
First Half of the School Year: Commencing on 1 September and concluding at the end of February of the following year
Second Half of the School Year: Commencing on 1 February and concluding on 31 August
Full School Year: Commencing on 1 September and concluding on 31 August of the following year