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    With the support of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union (HKPTU), the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) today (February 19) launched the "Intellectual Property (IP) Tutor Programme in Schools".

    The objectives of the programme are to promote awareness of and respect for IP among students, to train up a pool of qualified teachers with broad understanding of IP, and to provide other teaching opportunities to people with professional teaching qualifications.

    "We believe that IP will be one of the hot topics in civic education classes in the future," the Director of Intellectual Property, Mr Stephen Selby, said at a press conference today. "So we have set up this programme, put more resources in training up a pool of people with professional teaching qualifications and assigned them to teach basic IP concepts in schools.  This avoids burdening schools. Further, the arrangement provides teaching and job opportunities to newly-qualified teachers or those who wish to resume their teaching career."

    The President of the HKPTU, Mr Cheung Man Kwong, said the IP Tutor Programme in Schools was a new initiative by IPD and the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union.

    Mr Cheung said the programme provided an opportunity for teachers to incorporate information about how the laws helped protect IP rights into classroom tuition.  Most importantly it enabled students to have a better understanding of the relevant IP legislations and fostered respect for creativity.

   "We welcome this idea and will provide full support to this project.¡¨

    Under the programme, a group of qualified teachers has been recruited and, after receiving intensive training on IP, assigned to teach the subject to Form One students in those schools which have enrolled in the scheme. Each course consists of four lessons for each class. The teaching materials are based on the resources posted on the "IP Interactive Zone" at http://www.ip-kids.gov.hk.  A learning guidebook - "Let's Protect Intellectual Property" can also be used as supplementary teaching material.

    The programme will run from late February to mid-May. Seven tutors and 14 schools have signed up to participate in this pilot programme. If successful, the programme will be extended in the future.

Ends/Saturday, February 19, 2005

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