18 / 5 / 2019
Jockey Club highlights its wide-ranging support for diverse educational needs
The Hong Kong Jockey Club has been a staunch supporter of local education at all levels over the years, working hand in hand with community partners on a wide range of projects aimed at cultivating an enabling learning environment for students with different backgrounds, abilities and learning needs. With the theme of ¡§Appreciate Diversity in Education¡¨, the Club today (18 May) honoured its successful partnerships with some 200 charity and community representatives at the annual Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Day at Sha Tin Racecourse.
Officiating guests at today¡¦s event included Club Chairman Dr Anthony W K Chow, Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges and Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung.
¡§Education is the fundamental building block of society. It opens minds, shapes values and equips us with the skills we need to contribute to the progress of our communities,¡¨ said Dr Chow. ¡§The Club has been a staunch supporter of education for many years. Kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, vocational and higher education institutions, have all benefited from the Club¡¦s donations ¡V some HK$5 billion in the last decade alone.
¡§As we look to the future, we must also ensure that education is accessible to all ¡V that it serves the diversity of learning needs,¡¨ he added. ¡§This includes the needs of students who learn in different ways, at a different pace, or who require specialist learning support. It also covers the needs of students from different social, cultural and language backgrounds.¡¨
Mr Yeung said, ¡§We believe that enabling students to unleash their potentials in both academic and non-academic areas is the key to Hong Kong¡¦s long-term development and success. Our commitment is best demonstrated by an increased expenditure on education, from kindergarten to tertiary levels.
¡§In supporting students with diverse needs, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is definitely a valued partner of the Government. I appreciate it deeply that the Club has always placed great importance on citizens¡¦ needs and contributed to the betterment of our society.¡¨
Working with educators and community partners, the Club¡¦s Charities Trust has initiated and funded an array of projects in recent years to enhance diversity in education through cross-sectoral collaboration and innovative approaches. These projects cover all levels of education and address diverse learning and teaching needs, from students and teachers in mainstream education and vocational training to those with special education needs.
Among them, three innovative projects are currently being implemented that provide wide-ranging support to address the diverse educational needs of students. JC A-Connect helps the growing number of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in primary and secondary schools. It includes school-based coaching programmes and training to enhance the capacity of teachers, parents, schools and NGO professionals, as well as parent and public education programmes. Launched in 2015, the project is now serving more than 6,000 ASD students in over 500 mainstream primary and secondary schools, which accounts for about two thirds of all ASD students in mainstream schools.
In light of the increasing number of ethnic minority children in Hong Kong, C-for-Chinese@JC seeks to enhance the Chinese language proficiency of non-Chinese speaking kindergarten students for their smooth transition to primary education and early integration into society. Adopting a holistic home, school and community model, the project develops various teaching materials and intervention tools for kindergarten and social work practitioners, while promoting social integration through culturally responsive pedagogy, family empowerment programmes and cross-cultural community activities. Since its launch in 2016, C-for-Chinese@JC has been fully implemented in 20 Network Schools. A total of 26 Affiliated Schools also join the project with partial support services in the home-school-community domains. The project has built the capacity of the sector through the provision of professional training to over 200 kindergarten practitioners, including school leaders, teachers, social service professionals and multicultural teaching assistants.
The Jockey Club ¡§Diversity at Schools¡¨ Project, launched in 2018, is aimed at strengthening the capabilities of primary and secondary teachers to deal with learning diversity in their classrooms. By establishing a data management system to profile students¡¦ diversities, formulating differentiated teaching strategies and providing classroom support, the project helps unleash the potential of all students and nurture diverse talents. Approximately 5,400 students from 143 schools are expected to benefit from the project, while 28 Classroom Learning Assistants are trained to offer cost-effective in-class support for teachers.
The highlight of today¡¦s race meeting was The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy, which was won by Big Party ridden by Z Purton . Mr Yeung presented the trophy to Owners Ryan Wong and Roland Wong.
The Club initiated the annual Community Day race meeting in 2005 as a way of honouring its successful partnerships with NGOs, Government agencies, academic institutions and other groups in building a better Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy is a historic trophy, some 160 years old, which was generously donated by the late Mr Tobias Brown in recognition of the Club¡¦s charitable contributions to the community.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club
Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club is a world-class racing club that acts continuously for the betterment of our society. The Club has a unique integrated business model, comprising racing and racecourse entertainment, a membership club, responsible sports wagering and lottery, and charity and community contribution. Through this model, the Club generates economic and social value for the community and supports the Government in combatting illegal gambling. In 2017/18, the Club made a record return to the Government of HK$22.6 billion in duty and profits tax and contributed HK$1.2 billion to the Lotteries Fund. Approved charity donations were HK$4.2 billion. The Club is Hong Kong¡¦s largest single taxpayer and one of the city¡¦s major employers. Its Charities Trust is also one of the world¡¦s top ten charity donors. The Club is always ¡§riding high together for a better future¡¨ with the people of Hong Kong. Please visit www.hkjc.com.
Photo captions:
Photo 1:
Club Chairman Dr Anthony W K Chow says education must be accessible to all, serving the diversity of learning needs.
Photo 2:
Club Chairman Dr Anthony W K Chow (centre), Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung (left) and the Club¡¦s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (right) officiate at the Community Day opening ceremony.
Photo 3:
Club Chairman Dr Anthony W K Chow (4th right), Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung (4th left) and the Club¡¦s Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges (3rd right) join representatives of some of the Club¡¦s diverse education projects: C-for-Chinese@JC multicultural teaching assistant Manveer Kaur (2nd right), Jockey Club ¡§Diversity at School¡¨ project lead Franky Poon (3rd left); JC A-Connect: Jockey Club Autism Support Network programme worker Chiang Kit Fung (2nd left); and HKJC Scholars Michelle Siu (1st left) and Kenny Dai (1st right).
Photo 4:
Toasting the success of Community Day 2019 are officiating guests, Club Stewards, members of the Club¡¦s Board of Management and other guests.
Photo 5:
Ms Maiko Tamura (right), widow of the late Mr Tobias Brown, donor of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy, presents the Best Turned Out Horse award to the winning Stables Assistant of Mr Croissant (left).
Photo 6:
Secretary for Education Kevin Yeung (left) presents The Hong Kong Jockey Club Community Trophy to Ryan Wong (centre) and Roland Wong (right), owners of the winning horse Big Party.
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Photos can be downloaded from The Hong Kong Jockey Club website (http://corporate.hkjc.com/corporate/english/corporate-news/index.aspx).
Media Enquiries
Dikky Sinn
Senior Public Affairs Manager (Charities Communications)
Tel: 2966 7402
