A video made by CLAP@JC and Education and Employers charity capturing what primary children in Hong Kong aspire to has been shown as part of the opening ceremony of a major conference on education in Hong Kong. The Career and Life Adventure Pathways (CLAP) conference was organised and hosted by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, with the support of the Chinese University and the Education University of Hong Kong and seven local NGOs.
This video was made by CLAP@JC and Education and Employers, filmed in Hong Kong with drawings by children aged 7-11 and edited in the UK.
Our charity were asked by the Hong Kong Jockey Club to make the video based on our research and experience of creating videos which capture children’s reactions. We used our Drawing the Future methodology to explore the jobs that children in Hong Kong want to pursue, and how they define success. It gave a new perspective on children’s view of the future, helping to build on our Primary Futures research, which has been conducted over the last ten years.
The conference, which was held at at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, was created and funded by Asia’s largest charity foundation, the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. It celebrated 10 years of the CLAP@JC initiative that supports young people in making a successful transition from school to productive work and a fulfilling life. This project, led by Winnie Ying, Head of Charities (Youth Development and Poverty Alleviation) and Elsie Tsang, Executive Manager, Charities (Talent and Sector Development), works to link all sectors of society to support young people’s transition from education to the world of work.
Pictured above are the youth representative to the conference Kelly Lin, the HKJC’s Executive Director of Charities and Community Dr Gabriel Leung , HKSAR Government Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak, and Head of Charities (Youth Development and Poverty Alleviation) and Convenor of the Advisory Committee of CLAP@JC Diana Cesar.
Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills, OECD, gave the keynote address, ‘What is the future of education to support students navigating in the unknown future?’. He used the findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), to highlight the need for schools to take a more proactive role in preparing students for the future. Also speaking from the OECD was their Senior Policy Analyst (Education and Skills), Dr Anthony Mann who was previously Director of Research at Education and Employers.
Our CEO, Nick Chambers, also gave a presentation at the conference and moderated a session on exploring emerging jobs. In addition to the speeches, there were 40 youth-led exhibitions, over 50 youth-led performances, and a series of interactive workshops. These covered several topics including: the aspirations of young people and the future of work from the perspective of the business sector and emerging industries; inspiring young people to explore their career development; frameworks to promote effective transitions from education to work; and how quality vocational professional education and training can provide equitable opportunities and unlock talent.
Our charity is currently advising and supporting a number of countries on researching young peoples’ career aspirations and how they compare with labour market demands, and in addition delivering career related learning programmes. For example, we are working with the Icelandic Government to help them roll out a programme to all their primary and secondary schools. This will give all children and young people access to a range of role models, details of which were announced by ministers last week and can be found here.