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Study on core life values for parenting education
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The following is issued on behalf of the Women's Commission:

    The Women's Commission (WoC) announced today (September 4) the findings of its Study on Core Life Values for Parenting Education.

    Speaking at the press conference, WoC Chairperson Ms Sophia Kao said harmonious families were the cornerstone of a harmonious society and building harmonious families had been a common issue of interest to all sectors in the community.  "In response to the needs and concerns expressed by many women groups, the Commission has put nurturing caring families as one of its work foci in the past two years, with particular emphasis on parenting education," Ms Kao said.  

    "WoC has held a number of meetings with experts in the field of parenting education, government departments and non-governmental organisations to identify gaps and areas that need to be further strengthened.  Among other things, the commission notes that many of the parenting education programmes place emphasis on the skills on bringing up children and solving issues encountered in the parenting process.

    "There has not been sufficient attention paid to the development of the value system of our next generation.  The commission therefore sees a need for further study in this aspect," Ms Kao said.

     In late 2005 the WoC commissioned the Policy 21 Ltd to conduct research on the core values for parenting education for instilling in the children for their personal nourishment.

    "The study was conducted by several stages.  The literature review, together with six focus group discussions and three in-depth interviews with education practitioners, experts in the parenting field and parents, were completed in early 2006.  Based on the findings, a set of 32 core values had been identified and a school survey was conducted in May, 2006, to assure the content and validity of the list.  Following confirmation of the validity of the list, it was adopted for a household survey conducted on a random sample of 1,144 parents and their children drawn from the population between June and August 2006," Mr Yip Hak-kwong, of Policy 21, said at the press conference.

    "To ensure the representativeness of the surveys, in the school survey, questionnaires were sent to 100 primary and 100 secondary schools that were randomly selected, covering different bands of schools across the territory.  Among them, 127 school principals, 121 school social workers and 114 parents' representatives of the Parent-Teachers Associations (PTA) returned the completed questionnaires.  For the household survey, 572 pairs of parents and their children were interviewed," Mr Yip said.

    Key findings of the surveys are summarised at the annex.

    "The survey results revealed that these 32 core values identified were widely considered as important and very important by all groups of respondents.  Of the 32 core values, the values which were considered comparatively most important by the different groups of respondents were: Self-reliance, Self-restrained, Honesty, Filial pity, Mutual respect, Politeness, Caring and loving towards family members, Endurance, Peace, Responsible, Independence," said Dr Yeung Ka-ching, one of the Co-Convenors of the Working Group of the Commission overseeing this study.

    "In general, school principals gave a higher score on the level of importance of all values, followed by school social workers, parents' representatives of the PTA and parents.  Children gave the lowest score on average," Dr Yeung said.

    "The findings also suggested that mothers in general had a higher expectation of children's behaviour as compared with fathers.  On the perceived performance of youths in the population, fathers in general had a more favourable assessment as compared with mothers.  On the perceived performance of adults in the population, sons in general had a more favourable assessment as compared with daughters."

    Ms Kao said the Women's Commission believed that parents were playing an important role in the socialisation process.  "Their own behaviour and value also significantly affects the attitude and value of their children.  Equipping parents, both mothers and fathers, with quality parenting education emphasising on core life values is an important empowerment process for them, which would in turn help nurture a younger generation with ability and integrity," she said.

    Mr Ng Sui-kou and Ms Ophelia Cheung, members of the Working Group of the Commission overseeing this study, were also present at the press conference.

    The WoC is exploring collaboration opportunity with community organisations to conduct a pilot project on quality parenting in a district.  The idea is to establish a support network for parents to share experience and offer mutual help on parenting issues, with participation of different stakeholders in the district.  It will also provide a platform to promote quality parenting education and the importance of instilling the core life values to children and youth.

Ends/Monday, September 4, 2006
Issued at HKT 17:43

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