The Intellectual Property Department has launched a tutor programme with an aim to help promote the awareness of and respect for intellectual property rights among students.

With the support of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, the programme also aims to train a pool of qualified teachers with a broad understanding of IP, and to provide other teaching opportunities to people with professional teaching qualifications.

"We believe that IP will be one of the hot topics in civic education classes in the future," Intellectual Property Director Stephen Selby said at a press conference today.

"So we have set up this programme, put more resources in training up a pool of people with professional teaching qualifications and assigned them to teach basic IP concepts in schools.

"This avoids burdening schools. Further, the arrangement provides teaching and job opportunities to newly-qualified teachers or those who wish to resume their teaching career."

Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union President Cheung Man Kwong said the programme provides an opportunity for teachers to incorporate information about how the laws help protect IP rights into classroom lessons. 

Most importantly it enables students to have a better understanding of the relevant IP laws and foster respect for creativity, he said.

Teachers recruited to teach Form One students

Under the programme, a group of qualified teachers has been recruited and, after receiving intensive training on IP, assigned to teach the subject to Form One students in those schools which have enrolled in the scheme.

Each course consists of four lessons for each class. The teaching materials are based on the resources posted on the "IP Interactive Zone" website.

A learning guidebook - "Let's Protect Intellectual Property" - can also be used as supplementary teaching material.

The programme will run from late February to mid-May. Seven tutors and 14 schools have signed up to participate in this pilot programme. If successful, the programme will be extended.