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The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, joined about 100 elderly participants of the Elder Academy Scheme to celebrate the advent of the Year of Dragon today (January 13) during which a donation of $5 million in support of the sustainable development of the Scheme was announced.
Together with the Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Professor Alfred Chan, and the Chairman of the Committee on Elder Academy Development Foundation, Dr Leong Che-hung, Mr Cheung received the cheque from the Chairman of The Yuen Yuen Institute, Dr Chan Kwok-chiu.
The Government and the Elderly Commission jointly launched in 2007 the Elder Academy Scheme under which elder academies run by school sponsoring bodies and welfare organisations were established. The Scheme aims to promote life-long learning among elders. It also encourages young students to take up voluntary work. To ensure the sustainable development of the Scheme, the Government allocated $10 million in 2009 to set up the Elder Academy Development Foundation.
Mr Cheung thanked The Yuen Yuen Institute for its generous donation. He said, "The Elder Academy Scheme is the flagship scheme of the current-term Government to promote active ageing. I am glad to know that the Foundation is gaining more and more support from donors.
"I believe that every dollar of the donation will be put to good use to enable more elders to realise their dreams of continuous study. It will also encourage more young people to put the concept of inter-generational harmony into practice through participation in the elder academies.
"Up till now, a total of 113 elder academies have been established in primary schools, secondary schools as well as tertiary institutions," he said.
From September, Radio Television Hong Kong radio channel 5 will broadcast on a weekly basis a health course under the Elder Academy Scheme for three years, so that elders can enjoy learning at home.
Ends/Friday, January 13, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:01
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