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The following is issued on behalf of the Societal Engagement Task Force of the Commission on Poverty:
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, who is also the Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty (CoP), officiated at the Future Stars - Upward Mobility Scholarship Commendation Ceremony today (November 15) to commend scholarship awardees and donors. More than 500 awardees, school representatives, parents and scholarship donors attended the ceremony.
Also officiating at the ceremony were the Chairperson of the Societal Engagement Task Force (SETF) of the CoP, Dr David Wong, and the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Mr Chua Hoi-wai.
In its first year, the Future Stars - Upward Mobility Scholarship has secured support from nearly 100 donors, raising funds of some $5 million for 953 scholarships. A total of 919 students from 363 secondary schools, special schools and Vocational Training Council institutions have been awarded with scholarships.
Mrs Lam commended all those taking part in the Upward Mobility Scholarship for their efforts. While the awardees clearly deserved praise, the caring school principals and teachers, loving parents and generous sponsors are also parties worthy of commendation, she said. Noting that the Upward Mobility Scholarship was a very meaningful project, Mrs Lam added, "The Upward Mobility Scholarship aims to encourage students to demonstrate resilience in adversity and maintain a positive attitude towards life and learning. I hope all the awardees will continue using their positive energy to influence the people around them."
Mrs Lam also expressed her heartfelt gratitude to the scholarship sponsors who come from different sectors of the community including individuals, business enterprises, chambers of commerce, professional bodies, trade associations, community organisations and charitable foundations, and hoped they would continue their support for the Future Stars Programme in the coming years.
Mr Chua said that many awardees had used the Upward Mobility Scholarship to buy books and equipment to assist in their learning or enrol in extra-curriculum courses of their interest to pursue their aspirations. "The Upward Mobility Scholarship has provided students with additional resources, enabling them to pursue their future directions of development according to their needs, interests and capabilities," he said.
At the ceremony, Acting Principal Ms Li Fung-lan of Lingnan Secondary School, which is one of the participating schools of the Upward Mobility Scholarship programme, together with awardees of the Scholarship Tsoi Yat-ming of Hong Kong Sea School and Yeung Sze-man of Sheung Shui Government Secondary School, shared their views on the programme with Dr Wong. They said they were happy to join the programme, adding that the Scholarship encouraged young people who demonstrated resilience and strived against adversity to explore the future. They hoped that the programme would gain wider support in the community.
Dr Wong said, "The Future Stars Programme effectively consolidates the participation of different sectors of the community in providing support to the less privileged. The Upward Mobility Scholarship can benefit many students in its first year thanks to the enthusiastic support from various sectors of the community, which is a vivid illustration of the collaborative efforts among the community, businesses, professional sectors and the Government in encouraging and assisting our youths in achieving upward social mobility."
Launched by the Commission on Poverty and administered by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, the three-year Future Stars Programme aims to encourage youths from less privileged backgrounds in achieving upward social mobility. Please visit www.povertyrelief.gov.hk/eng/links.html for more details on the Future Stars Programme.
Ends/Saturday, November 15, 2014
Issued at HKT 11:29
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