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The Home Affairs Bureau and the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) will launch the School Sports Programme Coordinator (SSPC) Scheme in local government and aided secondary schools in the coming three school years. The Scheme aims to give students more opportunities to participate in sports activities so as to further promote a sporting culture in campus, to raise the level of sport in schools, and to identify students with sports potential.
The Scheme also provides a platform for retired athletes to gain work experience for further career development.
A spokesman for the LCSD said today (March 16) that since the SSPC Pilot Scheme launched in September 2012 was found to be effective and had received positive feedback from the participating schools, students and retired athletes, the Government decided to continue to implement the SSPC Scheme for a three-year term in the 2015/16 - 2017/18 school years.
The Scheme is now open for application by all government and aided secondary schools till April 17. The quota of schools will be increased to 18 from 15 under the SSPC Pilot Scheme, and the maximum subvention for each school will also be raised to $350,000 from $300,000 per annum. Each participating school can use the allocated resources to implement sports activities for its students and employ a retired athlete as SSPC to organise the related activities.
At the same time, participating schools should provide coaching and support to SSPCs and cope with their study needs to help raise their qualifications and develop their career.
The Scheme will offer 18 SSPC posts for retired athletes with secondary education level, who have received training for at least two years under the Hong Kong National Team, and have represented Hong Kong to participate in international competitions. Interested retired athletes can submit the application on or before May 4.
During the 2012/13 and 2013/14 school years, SSPCs of the 15 schools participating in the Pilot Scheme organised a total of 384 sport events for participation by over 86 000 students.
The SSPC Scheme is jointly organised by the Home Affairs Bureau and the LCSD with the support of the Education Bureau and the Hong Kong Sports Institute, with funding from the Arts and Sport Development Fund.
For details, please refer to the attached prospectus or visit the following website:
www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/ssp/coordinator/coordinator_intro.html .
Ends/Monday, March 16, 2015
Issued at HKT 16:01
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