A scheme aimed at spurring solo parents living on welfare to get back into work will be extended until 2010 after the government said it had received a positive reaction from participants and independent observers.
The New Dawn project was launched last April and was due to end in September.
But the chairman of the Social Welfare Advisory Committee, Wilfred Wong Ying-wai, said it would be continued for 21/2 years.
'The feedback from different parties - the participants, their children, employers as well as our frontline staff - is all very positive,' he said.
'We think this project has become the first step to help the parents on their way to self-reliance.
'Aside from assisting them to be independent financially, it is even more important to boost their own confidence and encourage them to act as a model for their children,' he said.