The Education Bureau (EDB) today (June 30) held the "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" Celebration of 26th Anniversary of Hong Kong's Return to the Motherland cum Government Schools Joint School Activities Gala to showcase the fruitful achievements of the "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" joint school national education activities in this school year.   
   
     The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, together with the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, officiated at the event. About 500 EDB representatives, government school principals and vice-principals, as well as representatives of secondary and primary school councils, school head associations, school sponsoring bodies and the Committee on Home-School Co-operation attended.
 
     Speaking at the Gala, Mr Cheuk said that strengthening national education on all fronts is a major initiative of the Government. The first-year "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" activities have set a very good example. He thanked all principals and teachers of government schools for their effort and contribution to national education and was pleased with students' enthusiastic participation in the activities. He also encouraged students to continue learning within and beyond the classroom, and care and learn about the country and Hong Kong's developments and culture.
 
     Addressing the event, Dr Choi said that the EDB has all along been adopting a multipronged and co-ordinated approach to promote national education and led 65 government schools to launch a series of joint school national education activities under the theme of "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" in this school year. Over 12 000 teachers and students from government and non-government schools participated in the activities with excellent achievements.
 
     The "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" joint school national education activities included exhibitions, fun days, competitions, performances and community exploration activities, with an aim of deepening students' understanding of Chinese culture, and national development and achievements, as well as cultivating in them a sense of nationhood, national identity and affection for the nation. To foster exchanges in the school sector, some of the activities were open for participation by students and teachers from non-government schools. 
 
     The Gala today was the grand finale of the "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" series. Hundreds of students from government schools participated in the performance, including the Flag Raising Ceremony and Chinese-style foot drill by joint school flag-guards, as well as folk music, dance and martial arts performance, to showcase their learning achievements. The event also included student sharing sessions and showed a video of highlights of the joint school activities in this school year.        
 
     The EDB will continue to promote the "Love Our Home, Treasure Our Country" joint school national education activities in the 2023/24 school year and organise more diversified learning activities to promote national education to nurture young people into quality citizens with a sense of social responsibility and national identity, as well as an affection for Hong Kong. 

Ends/Friday, June 30, 2023
Issued at HKT 16:18

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