Press Release

(10 March 2013, Hong Kong) Nearly one thousand newly-admitted student members of the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE) filled the Academic Community Hall of Hong Kong Baptist University this afternoon for Student Orientation 2013 of the HKAGE. Both the numbers of schools participating in the School Nomination and students nominated reach new high this year, according to the HKAGE.

In his opening speech, Dr. Stephen Tommis, Executive Director of the HKAGE, encouraged the students to take an active part in attending programmes provided by the HKAGE. He suggested students to try courses in a domain different from the one they were nominated in so that they can widen their educational horizons. Mr Abraham Tang King-hong, Associate Director (Student Programmes & Services) of the HKAGE, gave a brief introduction to the students the history of the HKAGE and the student services and programmes. Two student members were invited to share their learning experience. Mrs Cherry Tse Ling Kit-ching, JP, Permanent Secretary for Education, and Ms Lilian LAW Suk-kwan, JP, Executive Director of The Boys’ & Girls Clubs Association of Hong Kong, Directors of the HKAGE as well as members of the Curriculum Development Council Committee on Gifted Education were guests of the event. Ms Law delivered a keynote speech, sharing her experience and thoughts on fostering the notion of service to others and the community.

School Nomination Participants Reaching New High

Junior Secondary Students Admissions Increased

Mr. Tang said that there were some encouraging numbers in the School Nomination this year, which evoked enthusiastic response from schools. There were 263 schools participating in the School Nomination, which was a 30% increase compared with the first year of the nomination (2008-2009). Among the schools participated this year, 5% of them joined the School Nomination for the first time. A total of 2,760 students were nominated, a 14% increase compared with last year and more than twice as many as it had in the first year of the nomination. Around 1,600 were admitted.

Mr. Tang said that from 2008 to this academic year, a total of 340 schools participated in the School Nomination. During this period, 10,180 students were nominated, with an average annual increase of 20% or more.  60% or more students were admitted.   All these showed that through the events held by the Academy for the gifted students, parents and teachers, the general public and education community increased in their understanding and awareness of gifted education and recognised the importance of nurturing the gifted.

Mr. Tang also said that 43% of the nominated students were junior secondary students, an increase of 21% in terms of grade level ratio compared with last year. He emphasised that the trend was significant to the gifted education because the earlier the gifted students and their giftedness were identified, the more effort could be made on nurturing them with appropriate programmes and the more likely of bringing their talent into full play.

Please refer to Appendix I for detail figures of student admissions.

Two HKAGE student members, Tracy Ng Ka Yan (S3, Mathematics Domains and Sciences Domains) and Hung Man Ho (S4, Humanities Domain), shared their learning experience to help the newly admitted students formulating their learning plan.

Offering Attractive Gifted Programmes and Platform for Knowledge Exchange

Tracy a student member nominated to “double domains”, said, “I have been a HKAGE student member for three years. I love math. I could achieve good grade easily in school.  This made me a bit  arrogant. However, after I joined the HKAGE and took programmes such as training programmes for International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) and Girls' Mathematical Olympiad (CGMO), they provided me with big challenges that pushed me to reach my full potential. Because there are many excellent student members around me, I became to be humble ever since I joined the HKAGE.” Tracy also took courses in other domains, including psychology. After taking the programme, she developed an interest in psychology and even joined the psychology club in his school. She was elected to the committee and was responsible for organising activities.

Another student members, Hung Man Ho, said the HKAGE opened him up to unlimited opportunities He cited the programmes on film production as examples, saying those programmes satisfied his desire to learn more about film-making.    By participating in those programmes, he not only learnt the skills of script writing and camera setup, but also had hands-on experience to shoot a movie.    Besides, Hung also participated in the Mathematics Resources Contest (Math Domain) and received an Honourable Mentions.    He also joined the “Leaders for the New Generation” programme (Leadership Domain).    He  said,”The  HKAGE  programmes  are  different  from  the  regular  curriculum.        Some programmes cater for the needs of student members’ personal growth and social development.        They offer the knowledge and skills that students cannot acquire in regular classrooms.    I understand that many secondary students have to spend most of their time on regular school curriculum, but if they work a bit harder to study those subjects efficiently, they can spare more time to take the interesting and lively HKAGE programmes, to make more friends and to add more fun to their life.”

Nearly one thousand newly-admitted students and school representatives joined the HKAGE Student Orientation 2013.
From left to right: Mr. Abraham Tang, Dr. Stephen Tommis, Tracy Ng Ka Yan and Hung Man Ho. Dr. Tommis and Mr. Tang introduced the developments of the Academy and the School Nomination while the student members share their learning experience in the Academy.	Ms Lilian LAW Suk-kwan, JP, Executive Director of The Boys’ & Girls Clubs Association of Hong Kong, inspired the new students with her speech.

Appendix I

Key Facts about the School Nomination Programme 2012-13:

1.    Secondary Schools Participated

263 participated. 19 of them are first time participants. From 2008 to 2013, around a total of 340 schools participated in the nominations and around 10,180 students were nominated.

2.    Number of Students Nominated

3.    A Comparison of Number of Schools Participated, Students Nominated and Admitted between the First Year of Operation (2008-09) and this year (2012-13)

4.    Gender ratio of Newly Admitted Students

5.    Distribution of Newly Admitted Students according to Learning Domains

6.    Timeline for School Nomination 2012-13