In the first time Hong Kong representatives have participated in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO), the team, comprising four student members, achieved outstanding results, winning one gold medal, two silver medals and one bronze medal.
The IBO is an international competition for secondary school students. The purpose of the IBO is to enable students to apply analytical skills and creativity through tackling challenging problems in biology and conducting experiments. This year, the IBO was held from July 14 to 20 in Szeged, Hungary, and there were around 285 contestants from 73 countries/regions participating in the event.
Li Yung-chi (Diocesan Boys' School) won a gold medal in the competition. The two silver medallists were Chow King-ngai (La Salle College) and Wong Chi-ngai (St Paul's Co-educational College). Bruce Chum (Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School) received a bronze medal.
The Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, congratulated the Hong Kong team today (July 22) on their remarkable performance. "The Education Bureau (EDB) supports a number of outstanding students every year to represent Hong Kong to take part in various significant national and international competitions. It is with great joy that the Hong Kong team has achieved good results in its first participation in the IBO. The IBO emphasises both theory and practice. It is believed that Hong Kong students can further broaden their horizons and pursue excellence through participating in these challenging learning activities.
"The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council in October last year approved an injection of $800 million into the Gifted Education Fund. Different organisations may apply for funding support to provide a variety of off-school advanced learning programmes for gifted students starting from the 2019/20 school year, including programmes with themes of 'STEM Education'. The programmes aim to provide high quality learning opportunities for talented students so as to further develop their potential," he added.
The members of the Hong Kong team achieved excellent results in the International Biology Olympiad – Hong Kong Contest, a territory-wide competition newly organised last year. They subsequently completed the biology enhancement programme provided by the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education. The outstanding students in the programme were then selected as contestants representing Hong Kong to participate in the IBO this year. The Hong Kong team was fully funded by the EDB to join this competition.
Follow this news feed: East Asia