Embracing Social Inclusion

The Government is committed to enhancing an inclusive society, so that all individuals can enjoy equality and respect in different areas of life. This article outlines the services which help people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, new arrivals and the underprivileged to integrate into the community.

For People with Disabilities

Education

Children with special educational needs (e.g. children with hearing or language impairment, learning or behavioural problems) are provided with special education services, so that they can fully develop their potential and become a well-adjusted individual in the society.

Children with special needs enjoy equal opportunity to receiving education in public-sector ordinary schools, and those who have more complex needs or whose disabilities are so severe that they cannot benefit from education in mainstream schools receive education in public-sector special schools.

Employment

Incentives, such as wage subsidy, have been given to employers who employ people with disabilities and provide on-the-job training. The Work Orientation and Placement Scheme also provides pre-employment training with training allowance for job-seekers with disabilities.

To promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities and eliminate discrimination at workplace, the Equal Opportunities Commission published a Code of Practice on Employment under Disability Discrimination Ordinance as a guidance to employers and employees.

Other Support and Services

There are a variety of services, such as rehabilitation services, training programmes, support on public transport and in public venues, for people with disabilities to better integrate into the society.

For Ethnic Minorities

Education

Support services for non-Chinese speaking students such as induction programmes, on-site support, placement assistance and curriculum development are provided with a view to helping them adapt to the local education system and integrate into the community.

The Race Relations Unit also sponsors non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to provide programmes, including language courses, cross-cultural youth learning programmes and after school tutorials, to ethnic minorities including the youth, to facilitate their integration into society.

Employment

The Race Discrimination Ordinance protects people from being discriminated on the ground of their race in the employment field. A Code of Practice was published by the Equal Opportunities Commission as a guidance to employers and employee to eliminate racial discrimination at workplace and promote good practices.

Other Support and Services

To help ethnic minorities access community resources and integrate into the community, government sponsors a number of programmes for ethnic minorities including radio programmes, language courses, community support teams, and service guidebooks. One of the support service centres also provides free telephone interpretation services. You can also find the details of support services for ethnic minorites operated by non-governmental organisations from the link below.

For New Arrivals from the Mainland

Education

Children newly arrived from the Mainland may choose to attend a full-time Initiation Programme that helps them integrate into our community and education system before their admission to mainstream schools.  For newly-arrived students who enter public sector schools direct, the Education Bureau also provides through non-governmental organisations an Induction Programme which covers personal development, social adaptation as well as basic learning skills for these students. Placement assistance has also been provided for them, alongside a grant scheme for schools which admit newly arrived children.

Other Support and Services

The Service Handbook for New Arrivals has been published by the Home Affairs Department to provide new arrivals with service-related information. In addition, District Offices and non-govenmental organisations have been providing new arrivals with a wide range of services, such as familiarisation courses, employment seminars, language classes, experience sharing and visits.

For the Underprivileged

Education

Needy students are encouraged to participate in the after-school activities under the School-based Grant and Community-based Project Grant of the School-based After-school Leaning and Support Programmes which are organized by the public sector schools and schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme These activities are funded by the Education Bureau for helping students from disadvantaged families whose parents cannot afford to let them take part in fee-charging after-school activities.