ENG-2017 — Page 191

8

Education

at different career stages. Some 1,500 aspiring principals have attained the Certification for Principalship and about half of them have become principals.

School-based Support Services

School-based support services aim to foster leadership at schools, in particular at the middle managers' level, disseminate informed practices more widely to improve learning, teaching and assessment strategies in the classroom, and support professional learning among teachers. In 2016-17, the bureau provided school-based support services, including those financed by the Education Development Fund, to 293 secondary schools, 398 primary schools, 36 special schools, and 174 kindergartens and kindergarten-cum-child care centres.

Regional Education Offices also offer school-based support services to schools in response to the needs of students, teachers, schools and other stakeholders.

Community Participation in Education

Home-School Cooperation

The Committee on Home-School Cooperation encourages the establishment of Parent-Teacher Associations. There are about 1,400 such associations. The bureau funded about 3,400 school- based and district-based home-school cooperation activities in 2016-17.

Committee on the Promotion of Civic Education

The committee advises the government on civic education, works with the government and other parties in arranging civic education activities, and sponsors community organisations to carry out projects to promote civic education outside school. It encourages a positive attitude towards life, cultivates an integrated and harmonious society, instils core civic values, and promotes understanding of the Basic Law and the Mainland. Those core values - 'Respect and inclusiveness', 'Responsibility' and 'Love' - are promoted to encourage mutual respect for people with different cultural backgrounds and points of view.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the HKSAR and raise awareness of the Belt and Road Initiative, the committee promoted the message 'Foster a People-to-people Bond, Create a Better Future and Cheer for Hong Kong' in 2017. The Home Affairs Bureau and the committee rolled out again the Funding Scheme for Exchange in Belt and Road Countries to enable in-depth exchange between young Hong Kong people and their counterparts in the Belt and Road countries to foster 'people-to-people bonds!

The committee's Civic Education Resource Centre at the Youth Square houses reference materials on civic education and youth development. It also organises training courses, seminars, sharing sessions, film shows, guided tours and periodic exhibitions.

Commission on Youth

The commission advises the government on youth matters, initiates studies on youth, promotes youth development, enhances communication between young people and the government,

135