VTC holds graduation ceremonies plus presentations for Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Outstanding Student Awards

The Vocational Training Council (VTC) held the first of its 2022 graduation ceremonies yesterday (26 November), with more sessions to follow next week. Over 16,000 graduates from different VTC member institutions would be conferred with awards ranging from Bachelor Degree to Higher Diploma, Diploma of Foundation Studies, Diploma of Vocational Education, Diploma and Certificate. The Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Outstanding Student Awards was also presented on the occasion to ten VTC students in recognition of their excellent academic performances and whole-person development.

Secretary for Education Dr CHOI Yuk-lin said in a pre-recorded speech that the VTC had always been a close partner of the HKSAR Government in supporting the promotion and development of vocational and professional education and training (VPET). Those initiatives included developing an Applied Degree Programme with the government, strengthening the positioning and role of VPET in the higher education sector, and facilitating the parallel development of VPET and academic education pathways. In the future, the Government would continue to support the VTC’s offerings of diversified VPET programmes, fruitful workplace learning opportunities and enhanced teaching facilities for the students. Dr CHOI also had words of encouragement for the graduates, saying graduation marked a new chapter in their lives. They should seize every coming opportunity to equip themselves with knowledge, broaden their horizons and be ready to embrace future challenges and opportunities, with a view to contributing to the nation and society.

VTC’s Chairman Mr Tony TAI also addressed graduates at the ceremony. Mr TAI noted that the growing importance of VPET had been well recognised in today’s era of innovation, and talented people with professional skills were in increasingly high demand from industry. In the 2022 Policy Address, various new initiatives had been introduced by the Government to promote the parallel development of VPET and academic education pathways, which would in turn provide young people with more opportunities to develop their professions. Mr TAI added that the VTC had all along been proactively responding to the demand for new skills and talent from society by incorporating innovation and technology elements into its teaching and learning, developing smart campuses, adopting a cross-disciplinary approach and spearheading industry co-creation projects to help students grasp professional knowledge and emerging technologies, as well as accumulate applied skills at the workplace. This would undoubtedly help the students unleash their full potential, make a positive contribution to industry and subsequently become pillars of society.

Graduation ceremonies held yesterday and next week are for various VTC member institutions, including the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), the Maritime Services Training Institute (MSTI), the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi), the Hotel and Tourism Institute (HTI), the Chinese Culinary Institute (CCI), the International Culinary Institute (ICI) and Youth College. This year’s ceremonies are being run in hybrid mode, with graduates and parents welcome to share the joyful moments either by attending on site or watching online at home.

A Presentation Ceremony for the Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Outstanding Students Award Scheme was also held yesterday, with ten VTC students from different disciplines (see appendix for the awardee list), honoured for their excellence in academic studies, leadership, personal attributes, extracurricular activities and community service. Each was awarded a scholarship to the value of HK$10,000. Since the Award Scheme was founded by the late Dr NG Tat-lun in 2006, it has benefited many outstanding VTC students.

One of this year’s awardees was WONG Chun-fai, an IVE graduate of the Higher Diploma in Biotechnology. Influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, Chun-fai chose this programme as he aspired to pursue a career in medical research for the good of the community. During his studies, he had industrial attachment at a local theme park and was able to gain hands-on experience when working in the Jellyfish Aquarium by helping to feed the jellyfish and extract tissues from them so as to maintain the ecological balance. “The jellyfish are fragile and soft. Even air bubbles can hurt them and they will easily get infected,” Chun-fai says. “I was able to apply my practical knowledge learnt from IVE, such as aseptic techniques, to clean the fish tank and feed them, ensuring they are living in a bacteria-free environment.” He also had a chance to operate the laboratory equipment used to produce food for the jellyfish. Inspired by his industrial attachment experience, Chun-fai then worked with his teachers and fellow students from IVE Engineering Discipline to carry out an interdisciplinary project titled “Robotic Arm for Automatic Disinfection of Pound Scale”. He took care of testing bacterial levels on the surface of Pound Scale and assessing the effectiveness of its auto-sterilising robotic arm. Chun-fai has now commenced a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at a local university, hoping to pursue a future career in animal and medical research.

Another awardee, WONG Lok-ching, has been rope skipping since childhood under the tutelage of her sister. She was selected as a member of Hong Kong’s Rope Skipping Team while in Form One. After completing Form Three, she studied for a Diploma of Vocational Education (Fitness and Sports Studies) at Youth College out of interest, then progressed to a Higher Diploma in Sports Administration at IVE in 2020. This year, Lok-ching had a stellar result in the IJRU Virtual World Championship Series, winning one gold medal, two silvers and a bronze in such events as single rope speed relay and single rope pair freestyle. With the integration of technology and sports having become a growing trend, Lok-ching has visited some primary and secondary schools using the "Smart Hospitality" developed by IVE’s Hospitality discipline, to help their students use smart and interactive devices to do exercises then analyse their health data and physical performance through Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensors. Lok-ching has also leveraged her knowledge of sports media and communication, project management and sports technology to plan, implement and promote a sports campaign at schools. This year, Lok-ching has started a bachelor's degree in Sports and Recreation Management at a local university, pursuing a future career in sports management.

Established in 1982, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) is the largest vocational and professional education and training provider in Hong Kong. The mission of VTC is to provide a valued choice to school leavers and working people to acquire the values, knowledge and skills for lifelong learning and enhanced employability, and also to provide support to industries for their manpower development. VTC has 13 member institutions,  namely the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi), the Institute of Professional Education And Knowledge (PEAK), the School for Higher and Professional Education (SHAPE), the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), the Hotel and Tourism Institute (HTI),  the Chinese Culinary Institute (CCI), the International Culinary Institute (ICI), the Maritime Services Training Institute (MSTI), Youth College, Pro-Act by VTC, the Integrated Vocational Development Centre (IVDC) and the Shine Skills Centre.

Website: www.vtc.edu.hk

Media Enquiries: 2836 1869

Annex:
List of Awardees of the Dr Ng Tat-lun Memorial Outstanding Students Award Scheme