21 students drop out of Hong Kong gov’t mentorship scheme since programme launched last October
Hong Kong Free Press
A total of 21 students dropped out of the Hong Kong government’s mentorship scheme for underprivileged youngsters in the first five months after the programme was launched last October, the Legislative Council has been told.
Under the “Strive and Rise Programme” almost 3,000 students were matched with mentors and were each given a HK$10,000 subsidy.
According to a response by the government to lawmaker Lam Chun-sing, a total of 2,800 students in Form 1 to Form 3 were recruited for the scheme. They were from underprivileged backgrounds, with some living in subdivided flats.
The government said 21 had dropped out of the programme as of the end of February. They opted out “of their own accord due to reasons including busy school schedules, clashes with school activities or extracurricular activities, and the need to attend tutorial classes on Saturdays and Sundays,” the government said.
It said the Social Welfare Department had not received any complaints from the students or their parents about “communication difficulties or distant relationship with mentors.”
The mentors include lawmakers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers. The government also planned to have elite athletes including Olympic fencing gold medallist Edgar Cheung, and bronze medallists Minnie Soo, Doo Hoi-kem and Lee Ho-ching of the women’s table tennis team, act as “star mentors.”
The scheme was met with some scepticism before its launch. Lawmaker and Convenor of the Executive Council Regina Ip said in September last year she was worried it would be impractical.
Ip said at the time that many grassroots families lacked resources and time, and would be exhausted by the time they returned home from tiring jobs. She said the government should be more practical to ensure that the scheme would not create a sense of defeat for those being mentored.
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