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The Permanent Secretary for Education and Manpower, Mrs Fanny Law, today (July 10) congratulated nine local schools for winning international recognition of their contribution and commitment to education.
Officiating at the Celebration and Sharing Session for Winners of the 2006 Inviting School Award, Mrs Law said, "It is an exceptional honour not only for our schools concerned, but also for Hong Kong ¡ª as you have put Hong Kong at the top in Asia for having the largest number of Inviting School Awards."
The ceremony was also attended by Professor William Purkey, renowned educationalist from the United States and the founder and advocate of Invitational Education (IE).
With its origin in the US, IE and the award were aimed at promoting teaching excellence in different regions through activities ranging from seminars, workshops, sharing sessions to visits.
Starting 2000, the organiser has been inviting Hong Kong schools to participate in the award which has seen eye-opening trips to the US by Hong Kong teachers and students together with reciprocal visits by their US counterparts.
The nine winning schools in Hong Kong for the 2006 Inviting Schools Award included the Church of Christ in China Tam Lee Lai Fun Memorial Secondary School, Ling Liang Church M H Lau Secondary School, Lai King Catholic Secondary School, Chung Sing Benevolent Society Mrs Aw Boon Haw Secondary School, Ching Chung Hau Po Woon Secondary School, TWGHs Yow Kam Yuen College, SKH Yuen Chen Maun Chen Primary School, Tai Po Old Market Public School (Plover Cove) and Anchors Kindergarten & International Nursery.
Mrs Law said, "Education in Hong Kong is going through major changes to better prepare our young people in meeting new demands arising from globalisation and the knowledge economy. Thanks to the hard work of our teachers, we have seen encouraging results and a positive impact on students."
In response to Professor Purkey's five Ps for human and school development ¡ª places, policies, processes, programs and people, Mrs Law made use of five Cs, namely Core, Communication, Connection, Commitment and Continuing Improvement, to summarise the critical issues in implementing education reform in Hong Kong.
The "Core" of Hong Kong's education reform was about nurturing self-directed lifelong learners.
Mrs Law said "Communication" spelt out the importance of effective communication for the successful implementation of the education reform adding that all stakeholders, including school managers, the principal, teachers, parents and students had to fully understand the objectives of the reform, as well as their respective roles and responsibilities, and to act in unison towards the common goal.
As far as "Connection" was concerned, everyone in the school community ought to understand clearly how each activity or initiative connected to the overall goal, and how each could be leveraged upon another to create a synergistic effect and the best result.
Mrs Law added that teachers ought to have "Commitment". She said, "Teaching is a profession where passion and commitment are the pre-condition for excellence. Teaching is hard as it is both an art and a science, and every student is different. Those who take teaching merely as a job are unlikely to find satisfaction, especially when they are faced with new demands from the education reform. On the contrary, those who are committed to education and find teaching a meaningful occupation are likely to be more innovative and proactive, and undeterred by workload and difficulty."
Mrs Law looked at the "Continuing improvement" as a journey, rather than an event, for the education reform. She said for sustainable development, schools had to own the change and aim for continuing improvement.
In her concluding remarks, Mrs Law said notwithstanding a relatively late start in launching the education reform, Hong Kong had achieved a lot over the past five years through the concerted efforts of teachers, principals, school sponsors and the Government. "Our curriculum framework is recognized internationally as professional and progressive. Our students have fared well in international assessments and competitions. Our principals and teachers are responsive, hardworking, dedicated and innovative.
"I am more than ever confident that education in Hong Kong will move from strength to strength, and support Hong Kong's role as a regional education hub," she added.
Held at Chung Sing Benevolent Society Mrs Aw Boon Haw Secondary School, today's ceremony was attended by some 150 people including school heads, teachers, parents and students of all winning schools, who were all impressed by Professor Purkeys's sharing on the promotion of Invitational Education.
Starting 2000, Hong Kong schools on the winning list of the Inviting School Awards include Homantin Government Secondary School, Creative Primary School, Fanling Kau Yan College, Buddhist Tai Kwong Middle School, as well as Christian & Missionary Alliance Sun Kei Secondary School.
Ends/Monday, July 10, 2006
Issued at HKT 19:06
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