ENG-2008 — Page 204

152 | Education

Scholarships

Privately funded scholarships administered by SFAA are provided for local and overseas studies mainly on merit basis. The $1 billion Hong Kong Special Administrative Region's Government Scholarship Fund was established to award Government scholarships on the basis of merit to outstanding local and non-local students studying in full-time publicly-funded degree or above level programmes in the eight UGC-funded institutions and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.

Community Participation in Education

Home-school Co-operation

The Committee on Home-school Co-operation was set up in 1993 to promote positive attitudes towards home-school co-operation and to

and to encourage the establishment of Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs). Up to 2008, more than 1 300 PTAs had been established to foster sustained home-school co-operation. In 2008, the EDB funded the PTAs' organisation of about 2 750 school-based and district- based parent education activities.

School Business Partnership

In 2005, the EDB launched the Business-School Partnership Programme to lead students out of the classroom to gain a wider perspective of society through hands- on business learning experience. In 2008, about 160 business firms participated in the programme, organising more than 250 activities, including workplace visits, workshops on entrepreneurship, trade fairs, job shadowing and work attachment, benefiting more than 30 000 students.

Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education

The Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education was set up to advise on civic education and to implement activities in conjunction with the Government and parties concerned to promote civic education outside schools. In 2008, the committee concentrated its efforts on good citizenship, civic responsibilities, building an integrated and harmonious society, family cohesiveness, respect for human rights and the rule of law, and enhancing understanding of the Basic Law, Hong Kong's constitution, and a sense of national identity.

The committee ran a website to promote various civic education themes. To promote national education, bi-weekly articles entitled 'Knowing China' published on the committee's website. Other promotional activities included an exhibition of literature and other civic education and publicity materials on the theme of 'Living in Harmony', organising interactive family game booths and publishing booklets on Olympism to promote an 'Olympic spirit' during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

A working group, comprising members of the committee and the Commission. on Youth, produced a new series of TV APIs (Announcements in the Public Interest) entitled 'Accomplishments of Our Country' which used the national anthem as the theme music. In addition, the committee co-produced with the Radio Television