Introduction

To promote the holistic development of adolescents in Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust approved HK$400 million for a four-year project entitled 'P.A.T.H.S. to Adulthood:  A Jockey Club Youth Enhancement Scheme' which commenced from the 2005/06 school year, in collaboration with the Research Team, the Education Bureau and the Social Welfare Department.  The Project has been extended to special schools adopting the ordinary curriculum since 2006/07 school year.  The Research Team, which was led by the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Professor Daniel Shek as the Principal Investigator) and included academics from five universities in Hong Kong, developed an evidence-based and multi-year universal positive youth development programme.

Research Team

In the 2009/10 to 2011/12 school years, the Research Team continues to be led by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and include academics of five universities in Hong Kong. Members of the Research Team are responsible for the development of the web-based teaching and learning materials, refinement of the teaching manuals, establishment of e-learning training programmes, support for programme implementation and project evaluation.

For more information about the curriculum, training and evaluation of the project, please refer to the Research Team's website at http://www.paths.hk.

Purpose of the Project

The project aims to promote the holistic development of young people by providing opportunities and recognition for them to develop competence and skills which are conducive to positive youth development, promoting bonding with others, and cultivating healthy beliefs and clear values.

Implementation Schedule

The project is implemented in Secondary One to Secondary Three according to the following timetable:

Special Schools

This project is designed to be implemented in ordinary schools for Secondary One to Secondary Three students. To facilitate the implementation of the project, a series of training programmes are held for teachers and social workers of the participating schools.  Seeing that teachers and social workers of special schools may be interested in the training, and that students with normal intelligence from special schools adopting ordinary curriculum may also benefit from the Tier 1 Programme of this project, the project is extended to cover special schools.

To maximize the benefits to students, teachers and social workers could modify the content of the Tier 1 Programme to cater for the needs of students.

Design of the Project

Tier 1 Programme
Special schools with students of normal intelligence and adopting ordinary curriculum are eligible for joining P.A.T.H.S. to carry out the Tier 1 Programme.

Content of the Tier 1 Programme

• Universal positive youth development programme developed by the Research Team.
• For students in Secondary One to Secondary Three.
• Relevant adolescent developmental concerns (e.g. drug issues, financial management, a sense of responsibility and life meaning) and adolescent developmental strengths (e.g. high level of concern for society and high proficiency in information technology) are already incorporated in the programme content.
• Schools may deliver the 20-hour Tier 1 Programme in one of the following modes.  If schools need to implement the programme in other modes, they should justify with reasons on the application form.

For more details about the Tier I Programme, please refer to the Teacher's Manual and Activity Booklet ( ¾É®v¨Ï¥Î¤â¥U¤Î¬¡°Ê¤â¥U ) sent to each participating school or the Research Team's website at http://www.paths.hk.

Funding provision and Payment Arrangement for Tier 1 Programme
A subsidy of $10,000 per participating class is provided for each participating school, i.e $10,000 x number of participating classes.  To apply for the funding of Tier 1 Programme, each participating school is required to report the number of participating classes at each level to EDB in September each year.  The subsidy is normally released to each participating school in one instalment in October.

Training for Social Workers and Teachers
There are 20 hours of training for social workers and teachers each year to facilitate their implementation of the Tier 1 Programme in Secondary One, Two and Three.  Participating special schools can send at most one teacher per level and one social worker to the 20-hour training of the Tier 1 Programme.

In the 2009/10 to 2011/12 school years, the format of the training programme is restructured and redesigned to cater for the needs of teachers and social workers.  Under the new arrangement, the three-day course (20 hours) is divided into two parts: 7 hours of e-learning where participants can take the training course through the Internet; while the second and the third days of the training programme are delivered in workshops in an interactive mode (13 hours in total, 6.5 hours per day).

The training workshops will be conducted in May to October in 2009/10 to 2011/12 school years. For details and schedule of the training workshops, please refer to the Research Team¡¦s website at http://www.paths.hk. 

Teacher Relief Subsidy

Additional funding will be provided for schools to employ supply teachers to release those teachers who attend the training courses for the implementation of the Tier 1 Programme.  Each participating special school can claim an allowance of $ 2,100 per person for one teacher per form participating in the 20-hour training programme.  After receiving the certificate for the completion  of the 7-hour on-line session and the 13-hour interactive training (2-day workshops), teachers can apply to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for the above subsidy.  Schools are given flexibility in using the subsidy, either to recruit supply teachers or for teacher professional development purposes.

Income and Expenditure Statement

Special schools participating the Tier 1 programme should submit the Income and Expenditure Statement to the Special Education Support 2 Section of Education Bureau at the end of each academic year.

Related Information / Forms

Social Welfare Department - P.A.T.H.S

Guideline and Application Form (2009/2010 School Year)

 Ms Word Document /   Acrobat Document

Teacher Relief Subsidy Claim Form

Ms Word Document /   Acrobat Document 

 (1) For 2009/10 school year 
       Ms Word Document /  Acrobat Document

Briefing and Sharing Sessions

Frequently Asked Questions

 Acrobat Document  

Enquiry

Special Education Support 2 Section

Ms Edith LAM