CareER Scholarship & Fellowship Programme
The CareER Scholarship & Fellowship Programme recognises students with disabilities and/or special educational needs (SEN) for their dedication to community and social service participation, contributions to society, and accomplishments in extracurricular activities. Beyond financial support through a scholarship, it features a structured fellowship programme designed to cultivate personal growth, leadership, and active community engagement.
Core Objectives:
Community Impact: To facilitate a cohesive peer community by inspiring scholarship recipients to contribute to the SEN community by serving as mentors.
Identity Empowerment: Encourage students to embrace their unique identities and lived experiences with pride and confidence, and enhance their disability acceptance through the storytelling workshop.
Financial Support: To provide financial support to the awardees to enable them to acquire assistive equipment and technology to enhance their employment prospects and opportunities.
Work Experience Opportunity: Empower students with disability/SEN to pursue more fulfilling careers with work experience and exposure.
Target Beneficiaries:
Local Senior Secondary School Students in Form 5 to 6 with disabilities and/or SEN: Open to those from local mainstream or special schools who demonstrate outstanding involvement in extracurricular activities and meaningful contributions to society.
Local Associate Degree / Higher Diploma / Undergraduate Students with disabilities and/or SEN: Open to all current undergraduate students with disabilities and/or SEN of local higher education institutions , regardless of the funding source of the institutions, i.e. both self-financing local programmes and publicly-funded programmes are eligible. Selected based on their dedication to career development and active engagement in community service.
Eligibility and Criteria:
Applicants must be holders of a valid Hong Kong PERMANENT identity card, which states that the holder has the right of abode in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR)
Applicants must have a disability and/or SEN confirmed by medical professional(s) with the relevant supporting document
Post-secondary applicants must be current Associate Degree or Higher Diploma students, or current undergraduate students of local higher education institutions, regardless of the funding source of the institutions, i.e. both self-financing local programmes and publicly-funded programmes are eligible.
Senior-secondary applicants must be current students in Form 5 to 6 at local schools (including special schools) in the current academic year
Incoming exchange students not pursuing their entire academic programs at their respective schools are NOT eligible for the award
Program Highlights
1. The Scholarship Award
Senior Secondary Group: There will be eight awards and each successful candidate will receive a grant of HK$8,000.
Post-secondary Group: There will be fifteen awards and each successful candidate will receive a grant of HK$10,000.
The scholarship award will be distributed in two instalments. The first instalment, 30% of the award, will be disbursed at the award ceremony; while the remaining 70% will be disbursed after the awardees have fulfilled their responsibilities of the program. Awardees who fail to comply with the program requirements will not be eligible for the second instalment of the scholarship award.
2. The “Excellence Fellows” Award (Post-secondary scholars only)
Among all fifteen post-secondary scholarship awardees, five of them will be selected as “Excellence Fellows” based on Reflective & Learning Reports and their performance throughout the program. Each “Excellence Fellow” will receive another grant of HK$10,000, and the award cheque will be disbursed at the closing ceremony.
Summer Internship and Job Shadowing Opportunities at Kerry Group
Selected post-secondary shortlisted applicants or awardees will have the opportunity to work as summer interns at Kerry Group, while selected senior-secondary awardees will have the chance to job shadow at Kerry Group to gain first-hand workplace experience in the summer.
6-Month Mentorship Program
Awardees will be divided into groups, and each group will be assigned at least one CareER alumnus as their mentor. The mentorship matching will be arranged in reference to mentors’ and mentees’ disabilities and career interests.
Storytelling Workshops & Events
All awardees will participate in the Storytelling Workshops and events, where they will explore and gain a new perspective on their conditions and experiences through storytelling. The workshop also encourages awardees to share their stories at the events
Experience Sharing Sessions
Throughout the scholarship program, post-secondary awardees will have the opportunity to share their university life experience with the senior secondary awardees, and their mentors will share their workplace experience with the post-secondary awardees.
How to Apply
Applications for this programme typically open annually between January and February.
Before you begin, we highly recommend reviewing our document preparation guidelines and full selection schedule to ensure a smooth process: