The Hong Kong Paralympic Committee has launched a new project to help athletes after retirement ©Getty Images

The Hong Kong Paralympic Committee (HKSAR) has launched the Pilot Scheme on Employment and Education of Athletes with Disabilities in the Policy Address with the aim of helping athletes after they retire from sport.

The programme is five years long and was introduced by the organisation's chief executive John Lee Ka-chiu.

"The scheme will inject a shot in the arm to each athlete with disabilities, so that they can concentrate on full-time training and competition, and create a conducive social environment for them to help them to be employed in various social organisations after retirement, so as to promote the integration of the disabled and the healthy," read a HKSAR statement.

The programme will help athletes find employment once their competitive careers are over ©Getty Images
The programme will help athletes find employment once their competitive careers are over ©Getty Images

"The Hong Kong Paralympic Committee is very encouraged by the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee's continued support for the development of disabled sports in Hong Kong, and will continue to promote and assist the development of disabled sports in Hong Kong, and co-ordinate the participation of the Hong Kong delegation in the International Large-scale Multi-sport Games to bring glory to Hong Kong."

Last year, the formally known Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and Sports Association for the Physically Disabled split into two independent entities after five decades as one body.

It has now been agreed that they will run separately as the Hong Kong Paralympic Committee and the Hong Kong Sports Association for the Physically Disabled from April 1.