IT Fund Proposed For Primary To University Students

The Financial Secretary, Paul Chan, has announced a number of measures aimed at attracting and nurturing talent IT talents in the city, including subsidies to train local students to be more IT savvy.

He said despite challenges posed by the epidemic and the external environment, promoting innovation and technology is the right direction for the city’s long-term development.

He said the government will set aside over HK$200 million to improve IT training for primary school students.

Under the new "Knowing More About IT” programme, each subsidised primary school will receive a funding of up to HK$400,000 in the coming three school years.

The Office of the Government Chief Information Officer will set up a one-stop support centre to provide assistance for primary schools.

Meanwhile, the government will regularize a pilot scheme that provides subsidies for university students studying science and technology to enroll in short-term IT related internships.

Last year, the government earmarked HK$40 million for the scheme, which it said had attracted more than more than 1,600 students and 1,000 enterprises to take part.

A scheme will also be launched in the first half of this year to support universities in attracting top IT scholars to Hong Kong to carry out STEM teaching and research.

The HK$2 billion dollar scheme will be borne by the government, the universities and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.