Promotional Videos
Introduction
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), we have commissioned Now TV to produce a series of promotional videos. Details are set out below:
Promotional Videos by Now TV— “SCOLAR 30 Years On: Nurturing Hong Kong’s Language Landscape”
The promotional video series entitled “SCOLAR 30 Years On: Nurturing Hong Kong’s Language Landscape” showcases the effort and impact of the Education Bureau (EDB) and SCOLAR in promoting language education in schools and the community through interviews with SCOLAR’s various partners. The five videos of this promotional series will be broadcast on Now News Channel, Now Business Channel and ViuTV Channel 99 every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, for five consecutive weeks starting from 2 July 2026. Details of the on-air schedule are set out below:
| Telecast Date | Schedule |
|---|---|
Every Thursday from 2 July to 30 July 2026 |
Now News Channel 21:54 |
Every Friday from 3 July to 31 July 2026 |
Now News Channel |
Every Saturday from 4 July to 1 August 2026 |
ViuTV Channel 99 17:55 |
| Topic | Description |
|---|---|
This episode features two work partners of SCOLAR: the Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) of the EDB and YMCA College of Careers. Through the “Once Upon a Book Storytelling Outreach” event, SCOLAR’s Student Language Ambassadors joined the Native-speaking English Teachers from the Native-speaking English Teacher Section of CDI in promoting reading within the community. In addition, since the 2015/16 school year, SCOLAR has funded Vocational Chinese Language Programme for Non-Chinese Speaking (NCS) School Leavers, helping adult NCS learners overcome barriers in daily communication. Courses offered by YMCA College of Careers incorporate simulated workplace scenarios, enabling learners to gain an understanding of local life and culture while increasing their competitiveness in the job market. |
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Over the years, the Education Bureau and the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) are committed to supporting non-Chinese speaking (NCS) children in learning Chinese, facilitating their early adaptation to the local education system and mastery of the Chinese language. Through activities such as Chinese learning groups for parents and community learning activities, SCOLAR’s community partner, the Methodist Epworth Village Community Centre, Social Welfare, effectively enhances the language abilities and cognitive development of NCS young children, strengthens their confidence in everyday communication, and facilitates their integration into both the community and learning environment. To date, the project has benefited thousands of NCS families. This episode also features an interview with Miss THEBE Nimsing, a Nepalese undergraduate student who has attended mainstream schools since childhood. She shares her learning journey and experiences, highlighting how perseverance and determination enabled her to attain Level 5 in the Chinese Language subject of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) and successfully gained admission to The University of Hong Kong. She also encourages NCS students to learn Chinese well and equip themselves for the future. |
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Through the Language Fund, the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) supports various language promotion schemes in partnership with different organizations to promote biliteracy and trilingualism in engaging ways, with a view to creating a more conducive language learning environment for students and the community. One of the work partners of SCOLAR, Drama Wonderland, brings interactive Putonghua theatre performances to primary schools, secondary schools, and kindergartens across Hong Kong. Drawing on elements of the school curriculum and everyday contexts, the programme enables students to practise Putonghua through interactive participation, helping them apply what they have learned in a relaxed and enjoyable manner. “The Voice of Nature — The 2025/26 Hong Kong Nature Writing Contest (Secondary School)”, one of the projects sponsored by SCOLAR, is organised by the Research Centre for Chinese Literature and Literary Culture, The Education University of Hong Kong. The project leader, Dr. CHAU, Man Lut, led secondary school students on a field trip to the Fung Yuen Butterfly Reserve in Tai Po. He hopes that by combining firsthand observation with writing, participants will be able to better articulate their observations and reflections through words. A participating student noted that the hands-on experience offered a far more profound insights and inspiration than reading alone. |
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Language learning extends beyond the formal classroom. The Education Bureau (EDB) and the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) have been supporting a wide range of engaging language learning activities to enhance students’ interest and motivation in language learning. In the 2024/25 school year, SCOLAR provided schools with resources through the Language Fund under the “One-off Grant for Promoting Self-directed Language Learning (Putonghua)”. The grant aims to provide additional resources to enrich the language environment and, in turn, promote self-directed language learning among students. Salesian Yip Hon Millennium Primary School has used the grant to establish an “Immersive Learning Centre”, where students are encouraged to learn Putonghua through real-life, game-based and engaging activities that make language learning enjoyable. SCOLAR’s Student Language Ambassadors participated in the “Animal Photopoetry Creative Challenge”, co-organised by the English Language Education Section and the Arts Education Section of the Curriculum Development Institute of the EDB. Students visited Ocean Park, where they carefully observed and photographed animals before composing an English poem on the spot. The teacher leading the activity commented that outdoor learning helps foster students’ interest in language learning and enables them to connect classroom learning with real-life experiences, allowing them to apply their language skills in everyday life. |
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Since 2014, the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) has funded a range of bottom-up research and development projects under designated priority themes. In recent years, as the Education Bureau (EDB) has actively promoted digital education, SCOLAR has also kept abreast of the development by identifying the use of technology-enhanced and AI-powered tools to facilitate language learning and teaching as one of the priority themes for the current round of projects. Professor Lo Yuen-yi, Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) of the Faculty of Education at The University of Hong Kong and a former Principal Investigator of a SCOLAR Research and Development Project, supports the adoption of this priority theme. She believes that generative AI technologies based on large language models hold tremendous potential for language education. In addition, Mr Lai Yat-kin, Vice-panel Chairperson (English) at Salesian English School, has actively participated over the past two years in the International Summit on the Use of AI in Language Learning and Teaching, organised by SCOLAR, the EDB, and partner organisations. He hopes to integrate AI into classroom teaching to enrich students’ learning experiences and make lessons more engaging, thereby enhancing their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. |