Charities & Community
Youth Development
CLAP for Youth @ JC holds annual conference on connecting youth to stakeholders and careers
28/06/2016
Youth development is one of the key strategic focus areas of the Club’s Charities Trust. To help young people discover their interests and abilities and confidently explore suitable career pathways, the Club last year launched the five-year programme CLAP for Youth @ JC.
As a means of creating a platform for teachers, social workers and community organisations to exchange life planning ideas with overseas experts, the second annual CLAP for Youth @ JC conference was held from 23-24 June. Distinguished scholars and business experts from financial institutions were invited to share their experience.
The theme of this year's conference was “Towards Meaningful Engagement: Connecting Youth to Stakeholders & Careers” and keynote speakers included Dean of Lynch School of Education at Boston College, Professor Maureen Kenny; Professor of Department of Educational Psychology and Counselling at National Taiwan Normal University, Professor Shelley Tien; and Head of Citizenship of Asia Pacific at Barclays, Renu Vasanth Kumar. Chief Principal Investigator of CLAP for Youth @ JC, Professor Alvin Leung gave an update of the programme.
Funded by a HK$500 million donation by the Club, CLAP for Youth @ JC is targeted at young people aged between 15 and 21. It is the first comprehensive youth programme in the city benefiting not only students but also out-of-school youth, including school dropouts and non-engaged young people.
The programme began at the start of the 2015/16 academic year last September and has already provided services to over 7,000 students and 500 non-engaged youth. Ultimately it will reach about 200,000 young people in total. The aim is to build an effective, holistic and sustainable career and life planning model that can help the city’s young people identify and pursue their life and career goals.
The Trust is actively steering the project, working in cross-sectoral partnership with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Hong Kong Association of Careers Masters and Guidance Masters, The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Community & NGOs, parent groups, Government and the business sector. The ultimate goal is to develop a paradigm shift in society, establishing clearer pathways for Hong Kong’s young people, and building the professional capacity of the welfare and education sectors.
For more details, please visit https://www.clapforyouth.org.hk.
