The following is issued on behalf of the Commission on Poverty:
 
     The Commission on Poverty today (January 21) invited applications for the "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme 2019 – Heads of Departments edition under the "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme.  

     The inaugural programme last year received an enthusiastic and positive response. The Chief Executive announced in the 2018 Policy Address that the scale of the programme would be expanded this year to include the Chief Executive and more senior officials to benefit more students.

     In light of the expanded scale, the programme will be held in two phases. Officials participating in this phase will include Under Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments.

     The programme, to be held in April, will offer the opportunity for selected students to shadow a senior government official on the job for a day to gain hands-on experience of the official's work and a better understanding of the Government's operation. It also aims at providing officials with an opportunity to share with students their work experience while also learning about the students' insights on various issues and their life goals and future plans. It is also hoped the job-shadowing process will help inspire students to develop positive values and multi-perspective thinking as well as strive to realise their potential and seize opportunities for upward mobility.

     "The inaugural programme held last year was a tremendous success and it fully reflected the commitment of the current-term Government to enhancing connections with young people. My 'job shadows' and I were able to openly exchange views, share our life experiences and understand each other's thoughts through our interaction. The expanded programme will provide additional opportunities for senior government officials to directly interact with senior secondary students. I encourage students to seize this invaluable opportunity by applying for this inspiring programme," the Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said.

     An experienced non-governmental organisation has also been engaged to arrange orientation, debriefing and sharing sessions for the selected students to consolidate their takeaways from the programme.

     Application for the programme is open to all local Secondary Four and Five students in the 2018/19 academic year and priority will be given to students studying the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education curriculum. Application forms can be downloaded from www.lifebuddies.hk. Applicants should complete the form, together with the school recommendation, and send it to lifebuddies@cso.gov.hk by email on or before February 22, 2019 (Friday).

     On the other hand, the Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition of the programme will be held in this year's summer holiday and application details will be announced in late April.
 
     The "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme was launched by the Commission of Poverty in October 2015. It aims at promoting upward mobility of youths from disadvantaged background through the school-based mentoring and Job Tasting programme. To date, the scheme has enlisted the support of over 110 government departments, corporations and organisations and has benefited over 4 300 students. The "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme was launched under "Life Buddies" in 2018 to further broaden students' horizons. Information about "Life Buddies" is available on its website (www.lifebuddies.hk/en) and social network page (www.facebook.com/lifebuddieshk).

Ends/Monday, January 21, 2019
Issued at HKT 15:40

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