Hong Kong 2006 - Education

The Committee on Home-school Cooperation (CHSC) was set up in 1993 to promote positive attitudes towards home-school cooperation and to encourage the establishment of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). Up to 2006, more than 1 300 PTAs had been established to foster home-school cooperation in a sustained way. In the 2006-07 school year, the EMB had funded the PTAs to organise about 2 500 school-based and district-based parent education activities. The committee will continue to take forward initiatives with a view to deepening home-school cooperation and supporting schools in promoting parent education.

The EMB strives to continue to provide diversified parent education programmes to help synergise the strength of community, schools and families to support parents and enable a sustainable development of parental capabilities in the education of their children.

In 2005, the EMB launched the Business-School Partnership Programme to lead students out of the classroom to gain a wider perspective of society and to prepare them for life after school. In 2006, more than 130 business firms participated in the programme. The participating firms organised more than 250 activities, such as workplace visits, workshops, job shadowing and work attachment, benefiting more than 15 000 students.

Some non-profit-making organisations also ran programmes under which 'ambassadors' from the participating companies introduced the concept of entrepreneurship to students of their partner schools, and conducted trade fairs and workshops to provide students with hands-on business learning experience.

The Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education was set up to give advice on civic education and to implement activities, in conjunction with the Government and concerned parties, to promote civic education outside schools. In 2006, the committee focused on helping to create a harmonious Hong Kong. This meant promoting good citizenship, civic responsibilities, an integrated society, family unity, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and enhancing a sense of national identity and understanding of the Basic Law.

The committee ran a website to promote civic education themes. It also set up a telephone hotline for the general public to dial up to listen to stories about civic education. It also produced Announcement in the Public Interest (API) films for broadcast on television, held exhibitions to highlight the 'Harmony and Integration' theme and the Basic Law and handed out a wide range of teaching materials and publications on civic education.

During the year, the committee organised a symposium entitled 'Opportunities and Challenges in Promoting Civic Education in the 21st Century,' which was attended by experts from the Mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. The Working Group on National Education comprising members from the committee and the Commission on Youth produced the third series of TV APIs on 'Chinese Heritage' which used the national anthem as the theme music. In addition, the committee commissioned a large-scale study on Hong Kong companies' corporate culture and values, their existing policies and practices, as well as on their understanding and awareness of corporate citizenship.

The committee organised the territory-wide Basic Law Drama Competition jointly with the Constitutional Affairs Bureau, Department of Justice and Education and Manpower Bureau, the slogan for which was 'Learn the Basic Law, Know your Rights and Duties'. This was complemented by a series of roving exhibitions and workshops held across Hong Kong.

It also continued to run the Community Participation Scheme to encourage community groups to organise civic education activities at district level. To create stronger impact, the scheme adopted a topical theme each year. The theme for 2006 was 'Harmony and Integration'.

The main task of the Commission on Youth is to give advice on matters concerning young people. It initiates studies about them, helps improve services provided for young people and serves as a point of contact for exchange programmes with international youth organisations. The Government works closely with the commission to achieve these objectives.

During the year, the commission organised the sixth Youth Summit to explore ways to enhance the development and commitment of Hong Kong young people in matters such as education, the economy, employment, and culture, as China's world stature continues to grow. Representatives of youth groups in Guangzhou and Macao also attended the summit. The proposals put forward at the summit were forwarded to the commission, the Government, and other concerned parties.

The commission also organised a cross-sector Youth Development Conference to define the aims and direction of developmental youth work.

The commission continued updating the report, Youth in Hong Kong — A Statistical Profile 2003, which provides a broad range of data and useful material on matters such as poverty, substance abuse, unemployment, human capital, cultural capital and social capital.

To follow up on the findings of the first-ever benchmarking survey of the civic engagements and social networks of Hong Kong's young people, a further study to track the accumulation and development of social capital of Hong Kong's youth is under way.

The commission continued to implement youth programmes to bring out and cultivate young people's potential. These included the International Youth Exchange Programme aimed at broadening young people's outlook and world perspective. During the year, four groups comprising 63 youth delegates visited Britain, Ireland, Japan and Singapore under the programme. The commission played host to 39 young people from Britain, Ireland and Japan who made reciprocal visits to Hong Kong.

The commission continued to run the Community Participation Scheme for Organising Study Tours to the Mainland to enhance young people's awareness and understanding of their home country, foster exchange with Mainland people and strengthen their sense of national identity. In 2006, the commission sponsored 171 study tours to the Mainland.

The Charter for Youth spells out clearly the principles and ideals of youth development.