Community & Charities
Emergency and Poverty Relief
Jockey Club boosts holistic development of students from underprivileged families
09/04/2016
It has been widely demonstrated that extra-curricular activities help students achieve holistic development. For this reason the Club has put a high priority on providing people with holistic education support and equal learning opportunities, so that they can realise their full potential, whatever their aspirations and talents.
The Club’s Charities Trust has recently made a donation of over HK$7 million to help establish the Principal Chan Free Tutorial World Jockey Club Tai Kok Tsui Talent Development Centre and support its operations for three years. The Centre will provide a range of diversified learning activities free of charge to underprivileged students and pre-school children residing in the area.
Equipped with multi-function rooms for teaching, computing and music, the Centre provides a variety of activities including Chinese classes for ethnic minority groups, musical instrument lessons, art, photography and IT courses, all with the help of volunteer tutors. In addition, it offers volunteer training and parent education activities, as well as playgroups to meet the needs of pre-school children.
Leung Chun Wai, a volunteer tutor in graphic design and drawing at the Centre, comes from a grass-roots family. Having started work as a restaurant busboy at the age of 14, he later decided to go back to school, where he learned more about himself and discovered his talent for art. “I believe talent development is a way out for some students,” Leung says. “Everyone is born with talent. Some are not gifted in studies, but if they can develop their talent into a career, they can still make a stable living. Using my own experience, I hope to encourage students from low-income families to develop their interests and find self-esteem.”
Over 300 students have already enrolled for the Centre's services, which began in late 2015. More than 1,800 students and 2,500 pre-school children are expected to benefit in its first three years of operation, while the digital learning area will have around 25,000 visits.
The Trust also recently supported a visit by the founder of Principal Chan Free Tutorial World, Chan Hung, to the Riverside School in India to observe and study that school’s Design for Change initiative. Bringing the same innovative concept to Hong Kong, the Centre is organising week-long interactive training camps on remote islands to broaden the students’ horizons and enhance their interest in learning. It is hoped that these will prove an eye-opener for the students from deprived families, enhancing their learning motivation, social consciousness and sense of teamwork by requiring them to uncover and tackle social problems together with limited resources. The camps will marry exam subjects with living experiences, for example by having language lessons taught on remote islands, while also featuring non-traditional elements such as a tea ceremony and raft building.
