Today, the non-profit organization Children Social Network (CSN) held an initiation ceremony of its ALO Parent Education App/Platform System, together with an app demonstration and Parent-Teacher Association “Joy in Parenting” sharing session. These were held successfully in C.C.C. Heep Woh Primary School (Cheung Sha Wan) in front of government officials, together with leaders from education, social welfare and business sectors as well as parents. All witnessed the initiation of Hong Kong’s first parent education app/platform system, bringing together social resources and uniting forces to promote parent education and cultivate the holistic development of children.
ALO was launched by the non-profit organization CSN in 2021. It is the first parent education digital platform in Hong Kong. The word ALO itself means “Nurturing, Nursing and Nourishing” in Latin – reflecting parents’ desire for bringing up of their children. The app/platform system is supported by a team of local education professionals who create authoritative, structured, and interesting multimedia positive parenting content aligned with the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education launched by the Education Bureau (EDB). The content covers four major areas – “understanding of child development”, “promotion of healthy, happy and balanced development of children”, “promotion of parents’ physical and psychological well-being” and “fostering home-school cooperation and communication”. The platform supports parent education promotion work in all aspects and its parent education content has gained recognition from the education sector and professionals. Such as school groups, PTA, Hong Kong School Managers Society and other education parties.
In the first phase, ALO will provide services to all kindergartens and primary schools in Hong Kong. Through the platform, parents can access structured parent education content and can interact with schools for better home-school cooperation. Around 30 schools have actively participated ALO since the launch of its pilot programme early this year. ALO has won unanimous acclaim, participating school principals and parents considered ALO’s parent education content to be valuable, and the short videos and interviews are concise and interesting. Compared with other parenting websites, ALO’s content is more suitable for modern parents, and it is the most comprehensive and diverse parent education platform in Hong Kong.
Officiating guests at today’s initiation ceremony of ALO Parent Education app/platform system included Mr. Jeff SZE Chun Fai, JP, Under Secretary for Education, Mr. Herman WAI Ho Man, Chairman of Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, 2023-2024 and Mrs. Winnie W L CHAN, Chairman of Po Leung Kuk, 2023 -2024. They were accompanied by Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, Founder of Children Social Network and Mr. Ryan CHAN, CEO of Children Social Network. Together with government officials, leaders from education, social welfare and business sectors as well as parents, to witness the initiation of Hong Kong’s first parent education app/platform system.
Mr. Peter TSANG Cheung, JP, Founder of Children Social Network, said, “Parent education plays a crucial role in providing a pleasant and harmonious environment for children to grow up. I believe the education sector is eagerly anticipating the implementation of the EDB’s Curriculum Framework on Parent Education. I am honored to provide the first parent education app/platform system in collaboration with business and education sectors, bringing together social resources and concerted efforts to contribute to the future of our children.”
Mr. TSANG also stated that ALO would provide 100 hours of parent education information every year. The app/platform system would continuously optimize its functions in response to the needs of parents and schools. To strengthen home-school cooperation, the app/platform system has added multimedia support, ranging from sending and receiving reply slips, activity registration, payment, and school announcements to communication between home and school.
Mr. TSANG further explained that the platform not only invited various experts to create educational content but also conducted interviews with individuals from different industries via various channels to delve into the impact of family education on the development of young children and teenagers. The platform also highlights family activities organized by government departments, schools, and institutions. Additionally, the platform also focuses on promoting the physical and mental health of parents and offers recommendations and techniques for achieving this goal.
Mr. Jeff SZE Chun Fai, JP, Under Secretary for Education, said, “The Bureau has launched the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education for kindergartens and primary schools. This framework has established a common educational philosophy for all stakeholders to refer to and the bureau is currently developing content for secondary schools. The Bureau believes that ALO is an excellent parent education platform to promote parent education that aligns with the bureau’s Curriculum Framework.”
Mr. SZE also quoted, “ALO has been actively promoting the parent education curriculum framework, developing multimedia parent education content, supporting the needs of different parents in cooperation with the promotion of parent educational work, walk arm-in-arm with the government to raise the awareness of the society on parent education.”
Starting in 2023, EDB has provided a One-off Grant on Parent Education to all publicly funded and Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) primary schools in Hong Kong. Each school will receive a Grant of HKD 200,000. Schools may use the Grant to kick off and organize structured parent education programmes from the 2022/23 to 2025/26 school year. Several school representatives participating in the pilot scheme were invited to the initiation ceremony. Ms. WONG Sau Han, Consultant Principal of Hong Kong Taoist Association Yuen Yuen Kindergarten, said, “Without any restriction on time and places, ALO provides an alternative mode for parents to learn formal parenting information that meets schools’ needs.” Ms. Irene HO Pui Fong, Principal of Holy Family Canossian School, added, “ALO promotes home-school cooperation which helps create a healthy and happy environment for children growing up in Hong Kong. We will recommend it to parents.”
During today’s event, the ALO “Joy in Parenting” sharing session was also held, moderated by Mr. Eugene FONG Yick Jin, Chairman of the Committee on Home-School Co-operation. The panelists were Ms. Rikki LAU Wing Yan, Chairperson of the Federation of Parent-Teacher Association, Southern District, H.K., Ms. Lavery SO Suk Fong, Chairperson of Tsuen Wan District Parent Teacher Association Federation Limited and Mr. Michael CHOI, Chairperson of Yau Tsim Mong Federation of Parents Teachers Association, who shared their insights on parenting. The three acknowledged that parents nowadays are often busy with work and have difficulty attending family education talks and other activities in person. ALO provides a convenient channel for parents to take home information on parent education anytime and anywhere, and its content is highly relevant to the needs of modern parents.
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About ALO
Established in 2021, ALO is Hong Kong’s first parent education digital app/platform system launched by the non-profit organization Children Social Network (CSN). Based on the Curriculum Framework on Parent Education launched by the Education Bureau (EDB) for kindergartens and primary schools, ALO creates authoritative, systematic as well as interesting multimedia positive parenting information, providing holistic support for the promotion of parent education. The content covers four major aspects “understanding of child development”, “promotion of healthy, happy and balanced development of children, “promotion of parents’ physical and psychological well-being” and “fostering home school cooperation & communication.”
Supported by a team of education professionals responsible for planning, producing, supporting, and supervising the multimedia content for parent education, ALO responds flexibly to the need of modern parents in raising children and offers a new space for home-school interaction, communication as well as experience sharing for local schools and parents. Together with different industry sectors, ALO is committed to working toward the future of children.
About Children Social Network (CSN)
Founded in 2020, CSN specializes in assisting the social welfare sector in digital transformation. It is a leading non-governmental organization (NGO) serving as an accelerator for digitalization in the children’s rehabilitation service sector. With a focus on children with special educational needs (SEN), CSN supports a broad spectrum of services including On-site Pre-school Rehabilitation Services, Integrated Programme in Kindergarten-cum-Child Care Centre, Childcare Health, Ethnic Minority, Disability, Autism and Elderly.
Topic: Press release summary