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"Be a Government Official for a Day" programme 2019-Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition opens for application
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     The following is issued on behalf of the Commission on Poverty:
      
     The Commission on Poverty today (April 29) invited applications for the "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme 2019 – Chief Executive and Principal Officials 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 this year is being held in two phases. Students participating in the first phase programme (Heads of Departments edition) shadowed officials on the job for a day this month. The second phase (Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition) will take place in July and August, when the Chief Executive, Principal Officials, Under Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments will participate. 
      
     The Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said, "During this Easter holiday, 46 students participated in the first phase as job shadows, directly interacting with 23 Under Secretaries, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments. The second phase, to be held during the coming summer holidays, will involve more senior government officials. This highlights the determination of the current-term Government to connect with young people. It also underlines the importance that the Government attaches to directly interacting and communicating with our next generation. Since Secondary Six students have already completed the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination, the second phase will be open to them in order to allow more young people to participate in this memorable venture. I encourage all interested and eligible students to apply."
      
     The programme 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 provides officials with an opportunity to share their work experience with students while also learning about the students’ insights on various issues and their life goals and future plans. It is expected that 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.
      
     An experienced non-governmental organisation has been engaged to arrange orientation, debriefing and sharing sessions for the selected students to consolidate their takeaways from the programme.
      
     Application for the "Be a Government Official for a Day" programme 2019 – Chief Executive and Principal Officials edition is open to all local Secondary Four to Six 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 May 20 (Monday).
      
     The "Life Buddies" Mentoring Scheme was launched by the Commission on Poverty in October 2015. It aims at promoting upward mobility of youths from disadvantaged backgrounds through the school-based mentoring and job tasting programmes. To date, the scheme has enlisted the support of over 110 government departments, corporations and organisations and has benefited over 5 400 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, April 29, 2019
Issued at HKT 11:00
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