The Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr James Lau, will depart for Nadi, Fiji, tomorrow night (April 30) for the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
 
     On the sidelines of the meeting, he will meet with the President of the ADB, Mr Takehiko Nakao, ADB senior personnel, other financial officials and business leaders attending the meeting.
 
     Mr Lau will return to Hong Kong on May 5. During his absence, the Under Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Mr Joseph Chan, will act as Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury.

Attention TV/Radio Announcers:

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:

     Here is an item of interest to swimmers.

     The Leisure and Cultural Services Department has announced that the lifesaving services at Golden Beach in Tuen Mun District resumed today (April 29). The lifesaving services at the beach were suspended earlier due to an insufficient number of lifeguards on duty.

     â€‹The Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) today (April 29) announced the performance ratings of registered lift and escalator contractors for the past 12 months (from April 2018 to March 2019) for public reference.
      
     According to the rating results, 31 registered lift contractors and 26 registered escalator contractors were awarded the Safety Star. Among these contractors, 14 registered lift contractors and 18 registered escalator contractors had not been found non-compliant with the safety and maintenance requirements as reported in the last two consecutive announcements of performance results, and were therefore given the highest rating of five Quality Stars. The EMSD conducted 10,494 inspections of lifts and escalators during the period.
 
     The rating results, conviction records, summaries of the warning letters and equipment failure records are available on the EMSD's website (www.emsd.gov.hk/emsd/eng/pps/le_pub_mpr.shtml).

     Mobile Libraries 1, 5 and 6 will suspend services during designated periods in May and June for routine maintenance, a Leisure and Cultural Services Department spokesman announced today (April 29).
 
     Mobile Library 1 will suspend services from May 6 to 11. The affected service points are Whampoa Garden in Hung Hom, Riviera Gardens in Tsuen Wan, Shek Lei (I) Estate in Kwai Chung, Ko Yee Estate in Yau Tong, Kai Ching Estate in Kowloon City and Tsui Chuk Garden in Wong Tai Sin. For enquiries about Mobile Library 1 services, please call 2414 3157.
 
     Mobile Library 5 will suspend services from May 14 to 25. The affected service points are Kam Ying Court, Hin Keng Estate, Kam Tai Court, Mei Tin Estate and Yan On Estate in Sha Tin; Ming Tak Estate, Kin Ming Estate, Yee Ming Estate and Mang Kung Uk Road in Sai Kung; and Tai Wo Estate, Nai Chung, On Ho Lane, Fu Shin Estate and Fu Heng Estate in Tai Po. For enquiries about Mobile Library 5 services, please call 2696 5842.
 
     Mobile Library 6 will suspend services from May 27 to June 2. The affected service points are Shau Kei Wan Market in Shau Kei Wan Main Street East, Lei Tung Estate and Ap Lei Chau Estate in Ap Lei Chau, the First Aid Station in Shek O Beach, and Tsui Lam Estate in Tseung Kwan O. For enquiries about Mobile Library 6 services, please call 2505 4690.
 
     Readers are welcome to use other public libraries during the service suspension periods. They may also renew library materials by telephoning 2698 0002 or 2827 2833, or via www.hkpl.gov.hk.

     The Task Force on Home-school Co-operation and Parent Education set up under the Education Commission (EC) has completed its review on the existing approach in promoting home-school co-operation and parent education in order to formulate the directions and strategies for fostering both. The Task Force today (April 29) submitted the review report to the Education Bureau (EDB).
 
     The Chairman of the Task Force, Mr Tim Lui said, "A healthy and pleasant environment is conducive to the physical and psychological growth of children while parents play a pivotal role in their children’s development and learning.
 
     "We hope that through universal, diversified and innovative home-school co-operation and parent education activities, we can strengthen the mindset of parents and help them become happier and more positive, facilitate parent's comprehensive understanding of their children's developmental needs and strengthen their ability, knowledge, skills and attitude in parenting, with a view to minimising possible negative thinking and changing their mindset of excessive competition so as to create an enjoyable and healthy learning and living environment for students."
 
     At the invitation of the EDB, the Task Force was set up in December 2017. It has examined the promotion of home-school co-operation and parent education in Hong Kong and other regions, and has also reviewed the findings of relevant local studies and parent education programmes and activities provided by local tertiary institutions and non-governmental organisations. During the review, the Task Force had a number of in-depth discussions with stakeholders, released a consultation document and held consultation sessions to collect views from stakeholders and the public.
 
     The Task Force has put forward 18 recommendations in its report, including the provision of more resources to schools, Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) and Federations of Parent-Teacher Associations, the increase in the Set-Up Grant for PTAs in kindergartens, launching of a territory-wide "Positive Parents Campaign", the provision of subsidies for schools to implement school-based activities under the "Positive Parent Campaign" and commissioning of tertiary institutions/non-government organisations to design and develop a curriculum framework for parent education, e-learning programmes, workplace parent education courses, etc. The recommendations are set out in the Annex.
 
     Having received the review report, the Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung said, "I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Chairman, Mr Lui, and all of the members of the Task Force for their hard work and professionalism in conducting the review.
 
     "The EDB is dedicated to fostering home-school co-operation and parent education. The Task Force has proposed comprehensive measures on these two areas to further assist us in achieving the goals of creating a suitable environment for children to grow up healthily and happily, and discouraging the culture of excessive competition. The EDB will study the report and recommendations carefully so as to take appropriate follow-up actions and implement the feasible recommendations in phases to benefit parents and students with different needs."
 
     The full review report can be viewed on the EC website www.e-c.edu.hk/en/publications_and_related_documents/education_reports.html.