The education chief has praised a $50 million scheme to recruit parents to lead school-based groups such as Scouts and Guides.
Secretary for Education and Manpower Fanny Law Fan Chiu-fun told the South China Morning Post that using parents to lead such groups was one way to tap parental resources for educational affairs and to relieve teachers' workloads.
The move is aimed at improving home-school co-operation, considered a vital component of reform by the Education Commission, the leading government think-tank on the issue.
Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa announced in his Policy Address that $50 million had been set aside to support parental involvement in education affairs.
Director of Education Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said: 'Parents are precious educational resources.' He said that when he had paid a visit to a primary school in Ma On Shan last Tuesday, he had been heartened to see parent volunteers working in the library.
A steering committee on parent education is to be set up at the end of the month, comprising officials from the Education Department, Social Welfare Department and non-governmental organisations. Courses on educating children will be provided for parents.
