The Education Department (ED) of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region held a launching ceremony Tuesday to kick off a series of parent education activities for the current and the next school years.

   At the ceremony, Tung Chee Hwa, chief executive of the Hong Kong SAR, watered a pot from which a flower then sprang and flourish, symbolizing that parent education would prosper for the benefit of children.

   Parents are the first teachers of their children and have great influence on their upbringing in view of close daily contacts.

   To this end, the Hong Kong SAR government has set aside 50 million HK dollars (6.4 million U.S. dollars) for the 2001/02 and 2002/03 school years to strengthen parent education and to encourage parents to participate in educational affairs.

   To equip parents with the necessary parenting skills and knowledge for the provision of a suitable environment and guidance to facilitate the healthy development of their children, the ED has established the Steering Committee on Parent Education with Director of Education Matthew Cheung Kin-chung as chairman, comprising members from various government departments and sectors of the community.

   A Parent Education Implementation Team has also been set up to develop and implement a variety of parent education programs.

   It is expected that some 300,000 parents will take part in various parent education activities, including 3,000 parent education courses and 300 outreach programs.

   In addition, the ED will organize a number of parent education activities to raise parents' awareness of the importance of their role to the development of their children.