Background

With the financial support of the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, we have developed a positive youth development (PYD) program entitled “Project P.A.T.H.S.” in Hong Kong in 2005. To date, the program has benefitted more than 300,000 students in Hong Kong. With its success in Hong Kong, we have further developed the “Tin Ka Ping (TKP) P.A.T.H.S. Project” in mainland China with the support from Tin Ka Ping Foundation starting from 2011. We have developed curriculum materials with specific reference to the Chinese context and trained teachers to teach the PYD programs for junior high school students in China. We have implemented this project in more than 30 schools in mainland China.

Aims

As evaluation plays an important role in evidence-based PYD programs, we have collected evaluation data from the participating schools using different strategies throughout the years. In this study, we examined the views of the students participating in the TKP program in 2020-21 school year via the client satisfaction approach, which is commonly used in the field of evaluation. We also examined predictors of overall satisfaction with the TKP program.

Method

Students from 10 schools (N=3,057) participated in this study. We used a validated subjective outcome evaluation measure to assess students’ perceptions of the program, teacher and benefits of the program.

Results

Consistent with previous studies, high proportions of the respondents were satisfied with the program, teachers and benefits of the program. In line with our predictions, perceived program, teacher and benefits also predicted overall satisfaction with the program.

Conclusion

The present study suggests that students have positive evaluation of the TKP program. Together with other evaluation findings, we can conclude that TKP P.A.T.H.S. Program is effective in promoting holistic development of high school students in China. Theoretically, the present findings clarify the predictors of overall satisfaction of the TKP program as a positive youth development program in China.