SED attends education exhibition Educa in Finland (with photos)
The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, attended the Educa, an education exhibition, in Helsinki, Finland, on January 26 (Helsinki time) and spoke at a topical discussion. She also visited Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, the largest university of applied sciences (UAS) in Finland, to exchange views on the development of UASs.
The Educa is the largest event for the education and training sector in Finland with an aim of addressing global education challenges. At the topical discussion, Dr Choi discussed the role of education for the future with the State Secretary to the Minister of Education of Finland, Ms Mikaela Nylander, and representatives of the academic sector in Finland. She said that, to achieve the objective of whole-person development, Hong Kong's education not only equips students with skills and knowledge, but also focuses on honing student's generic skills, strengthening their resilience and responsiveness, and developing their proper values and attitudes and "learning to learn" capabilities for becoming a lifelong learner with self-learning abilities to cope with challenges in the future and from unknown quarters. In addition, STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education is an important element in the curriculum of Hong Kong primary and secondary schools.
She pointed out that in the globalised world of the 21st century, governments, policymakers, educators and communities from different parts of the world should work together, through communications, exchange of good practices, sharing of resources, etc, to overcome various challenges and create a quality education environment for students.
Dr Choi also visited Metropolia University of Applied Sciences to learn about its role and development as a UAS, efforts in promoting vocational and professional education and training (VPET), and experience in nurturing applied science talent to meet the needs of the society. She hoped that her visit could help pave the way for cooperation between the university and the UAS to be established in Hong Kong in the near future.
In addition, Dr Choi met the State Secretary to the Minister of Education of Finland, Ms Mikaela Nylander, and exchanged views on fostering education collaboration between Hong Kong and Finland. She said that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government strives to build Hong Kong into an international education hub. Finnish teachers and students are welcomed to undertake exchange and study programmes in Hong Kong.
On January 27 (Helsinki time), Dr Choi paid a courtesy call on the Chinese Ambassador to Finland, Mr Wang Tongqing, to brief him on the latest education developments in Hong Kong. On the same day, she visited the Finnish National Agency for Education to listen to an introduction by its representatives on the characteristics of the basic education and VPET in Finland. In addition, she met Hong Kong students attending an exchange programme at the University of Helsinki to learn about their learning experience there.
Dr Choi to conclude her visit on January 28 (Helsinki time).
