The Home Affairs Department (HAD) announced today (June 16) that the Learning Pilot Scheme 2021 (the Scheme) will be launched during the summer holidays to provide an all-round schoolwork and subject tutoring service for junior primary school students from underprivileged families whose learning progress has been affected by the epidemic. With a budget of about $13 million funded by the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF), the Scheme will recruit people with a bachelor's degree or comparable qualification as part-time tutors, aiming to create up to 900 part-time jobs while benefiting over 3 000 students at the same time.
      
     The Hong Kong Youth Power Association (HKYPA) is responsible for implementing the Scheme, and the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers will assist in inviting participation from schools and recruiting tutors. About 100 schools will be invited to join the Scheme, with students of Primary One to Four from underprivileged families as the service targets. The participating schools will nominate students from underprivileged families to join, except for those who will attend tutorial classes funded by the School-based After-school Learning and Support Programmes of the Education Bureau during the summer holidays. In addition, the Scheme will openly recruit part-time tutors. Please visit the HKYPA's Facebook page (www.facebook.com/hkypa2000) for more recruitment details.
      
     A spokesman for the HAD said, "Under the epidemic, students have to face changes in the modes of learning which may affect their learning progress. The HAD hopes to provide a schoolwork and subject tutoring service for primary school students with learning needs from underprivileged families through the Scheme so as to strengthen their foundation and help them catch up with the learning progress. It is also hoped that the Scheme can help relieve pressure on parents and teachers."
      
     To alleviate the unemployment situation due to the epidemic, the Government earmarked $6.6 billion under the AEF last year to create around 30 000 time-limited jobs in the public and private sectors within two years for people of different skill sets and academic qualifications. In view of the persistently high unemployment rate, the Government announced in the Budget this year to further earmark $6.6 billion to create an additional 30 000 time-limited jobs. The Government hopes to create as many as 900 part-time tutor jobs for unemployed persons with a certain level of academic qualification through the Scheme and employ them to provide school work and subject tutoring for junior primary school students from underprivileged families.
      
     The spokesman continued, "Through the Scheme, we can provide a service with keen demand from the parents and junior primary school students from underprivileged backgrounds on the one hand, and create time-limited tutor jobs to help alleviate the unemployment situation on the other. We hope that the Scheme can help foster social cohesion and a sense of community as a result."
      
     Schools that are interested in the Scheme may contact the Secretariat of the Scheme (email: learningpilot2021@gmail.com; WhatsApp: 6741 6816).

Ends/Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Issued at HKT 19:25

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