Parents share fun with children through IT courses
15 - 03 - 2002

More parents are sharing the fun of information technology (IT) with their children after participating in the "IT Appreciation for Parents of Primary School Students" programme.

The programme is aimed at providing parents of primary school students with basic knowledge of IT, enabling them to improve their communication with their children while learning the use of IT.

The programme is jointly organised by the Information Technology Services Department, Education Department, Television and Entertainment Licensing Authority and Home Affairs Department.

The programme has two parts: provision of IT appreciation courses for parents of primary school students, and distribution of video compact discs (VCDs) containing basic IT information.

Some 20 parents of primary school students who had successfully completed the IT appreciation course were presented with certificates by the Assistant Director of Information Technology Services, Mr Simon Yan Sik-lun, in a ceremony held at Shun Tak Fraternal Association Ho Yat Tung Primary School, Tuen Mun, after the course today (March 15).

Speaking after the presentation ceremony, Mr Yan said, "The response from parents has been encouraging."

"Parents are not only learning IT but they are sharing the world of IT knowledge with their children and sometimes even learning from their children. It helps build up cordial communication between the generations."

A total of 180 primary schools have joined the programme which provides about 550 IT appreciation courses for some 10 000 students and their parents.

The courses, which last for four hours each, cover four topics: basic knowledge and application of the computer; introduction to the Internet; application of the Internet; and systems required to filter access to indecent contents on certain web sites.

"To make it convenient for parents to attend the courses, more than 90 per cent of the courses are arranged to be held in the computer rooms of the schools," said Mr Yan.

In addition to the IT appreciation courses, the programme also includes the distribution of the VCD on "Guide your children on proper use of IT" to the students' parents to introduce them to basic IT knowledge.

Mr Yan said, "The VCD contains the same information given in the IT appreciation courses."

"A total of 480 000 copies of the VCD have been produced and delivered to more than 500 primary schools, offices of various government departments and IT-related exhibitions for distribution to parents and members of the public," he added.

The "IT Appreciation for Parents of Primary School Students" programme was launched last year after the successful launch of a similar programme for parents of secondary school students in the 1999/2000 academic year.

More than 130 secondary schools took part in the "IT Appreciation for Parents" programme in 1999/2000 by organising IT seminars for parents of secondary school students.

In that year, 200 000 copies of the VCD on "Explore IT with your children" were distributed to the parents by the schools and to the public at IT-related exhibitions.

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