Commissioner for Census and Statistics officiates at prize presentation ceremony of 2023/24 Statistical Project Competition for Secondary School Students (with photos)

     The Commissioner for Census and Statistics, Mr Leo Yu, officiated at the prize presentation ceremony of the 2023/24 Statistical Project Competition (SPC) for Secondary School Students of the Hong Kong Statistical Society today (June 22). Principal Assistant Secretary for Education Ms Edith Tse also attended as an officiating guest. The President of the Hong Kong Statistical Society, Professor Chan Ngai-hang; the Chief Adjudicator of the competition, Professor Cheung Ka-chun; the Head of Index Strategic Research of Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (sponsor of the competition), Mr Danny Chu; and representative of the Department of Management Sciences of City University of Hong Kong (sponsor of the thematic prize) Ms Teresa Ng also presented prizes to the winning teams and extended their congratulations to every member of the teams.
 
     Addressing the prize presentation ceremony, Mr Yu was pleased to note that a growing number of schools have participated in the competition in recent years, while the quality of entries has continued to improve under the unfailing support from the principals and teachers. This reflects not only the importance that the schools have attached to the application of statistical theories, but also the ever-growing interest and passion for statistics among secondary school students. With the advent of the big data era, statistical analysis skills are highly valued. He encouraged students to learn and blossom through participating in the competition, consolidate their statistical knowledge and develop analytical and problem-solving skills to lay a solid foundation for future development. 
 
     This edition of the competition received an encouraging response of 232 statistical projects from about 870 secondary school students, covering a broad spectrum of topics. Moreover, the number of participating schools has reached a record high, reflecting the overwhelming responses and promising support from the academia. Participating students were able to utilise official statistics as the main source of data to analyse and interpret social and economic issues in Hong Kong.
 
     The 2023/24 SPC, co-organised by the Hong Kong Statistical Society and the Education Bureau, is the 38th edition of the competition. The Commissioner for Census and Statistics is the patron of the competition. Over the past years, many statistician-grade staff members of the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) have proactively participated in the organisation and professional adjudication of the SPC in the capacity of members of the Hong Kong Statistical Society, with the aim of improving statistical literacy among secondary school students and promoting the application and importance of statistics in society. This fully demonstrates that the C&SD attaches great importance and commitment to nurturing young talent.
 
     The key objectives of the competition are to promote the interest of secondary school students in research methods, statistics and statistical techniques; encourage students to understand the local community in a scientific and objective manner through the proper use of statistics; and promote a sense of civic awareness.
 
     Members of the public are welcome to visit the webpage of the competition for the list of winners this year (www.hkss.org.hk/index.php/spc$en).