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While the current school year is going to end with the onset of the summer holidays, the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) are gearing up for the implementation of the School Sports Programme Coordinator (SSPC) Pilot Scheme in the new school year.
The SSPC Pilot Scheme is aimed at enhancing the sporting culture in schools by providing more opportunities for students to take part in sports activities as well as serving as a career training platform for retired athletes.
Co-organised by the Education Bureau (EDB) and the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), the SSPC Pilot Scheme is subvented by the Arts and Sport Development Fund. It will be implemented in September this year on a trial basis for three years with a maximum quota of 15 slots for application by all government and aided secondary schools.
Successful applicant schools are to be allocated additional resources to organise sports activities and to employ the SSPCs to help them develop, co-ordinate and promote the sports activities in the school campus.
An LCSD spokesman said today (July 11), "The pilot scheme can further promote sports in schools and allow students and youngsters to receive early training opportunities so as to identify potential sports talents, at the same time giving retired athletes opportunities to receive sports-related working experience as part of their future career development.
"This is a win-win situation for the benefit of schools, students and retired athletes."
Earlier in the year, the EDB invited all local government and aided secondary schools to submit applications on the schools' sports development plans for the coming three years for assessment. The response was enthusiastic with more than 40 applications received.
The applications were vetted by a panel comprising representatives from the HAB, the LCSD, the EDB and the HKSI.
The SSPCs are retired athletes recommended by the HKSI. With their experience and perseverance in pursuing sporting excellence, they can serve as role models for the students.
The main duties of SSPCs are to help schools implement the sports development plans and encourage students to play sports regularly, as well as to identify and inspire students with sports talents to become elite athletes.
The spokesman said, "So far, a total of nine retired athletes have been paired with successful applicant schools. The HKSI will continue to recruit suitable retired athletes to fill the remainder of the quota."
To prepare the SSPCs for the new challenge, the HKSI is providing the SSPCs with pre-service training on basic administrative and management knowledge such as communication skills, goal-setting and time management, as well as writing skills.
Representatives from nine participating schools together with their matching SSPCs attended a working session at the HKSI this morning. They were briefed by representatives from the HAB, the LCSD, the EDB and the HKSI on the implementation details of the pilot scheme. Information about the sports development plans of the participating schools and their SSPCs is shown in the Annex as attached.
During the implementation period of the pilot scheme, the relevant departments will request the participating schools to submit regular reports for monitoring the progress of the scheme. They will also visit the schools regularly to understand the work of the SSPCs so as to render advice and support to ensure that the pilot scheme is running smoothly. The effectiveness of the pilot scheme will be evaluated for setting out future directions.
Ends/Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Issued at HKT 16:23
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