To help schools meet the needs of students from diverse backgrounds, school operating grants are weighted for socio-economic status (SES). This is intended to check the influences of key differentiating variables - the mother’s educational level, foreign language spoken at home, the family’s financial capacity, and the student’s neighbourhood characteristics. Student socio-economic characteristics are also used in the calculation and allocation of teaching hours to elementary schools, and secondary schools receive a top-up of teaching hours based on such characteristics.