Secretary for the Civil Service Joshua Law today had a tea gathering with government summer interns with disabilities at the Central Government Offices.

The Civil Service Bureau assigned about 70 post-secondary students with disabilities to 41 government bureaus and departments for an eight-week summer internship.

Mr Law encouraged the interns to work hard and equip themselves with knowledge to serve the community after graduation.

Launched in 2016, the internship scheme for students with disabilities gives participants the chance to gain hands-on work experience to strengthen their competitiveness.

Mr Law said the bureau this year doubled the number of placements to about 100.

The bureau will offer placements for about 30 students from the Vocational Training Council’s Shine Skills Centre in October.

“Apart from inviting nominations from the eight local universities, we have also extended the scheme to other local post-secondary institutions, offering more young persons with disabilities the opportunities to have placements in the Government.

“This scheme is different from other government internship schemes as training elements are incorporated.”

A mentor is assigned to each intern to help them adapt to the work environment and cope with challenges.

Interns Kitty Wu who assisted in social media graphic design work in the Efficiency Office, and Abby Huang and Cat Cheung who provided support in the production of e-learning resources at the Civil Service Training & Development Institute, shared their experiences at the tea gathering.