Media

On the Same Campus • Students’ Voices Essay Writing Contest and Survey

06 May 2011

 

In order to gain a better understanding of the situation of those students with special educational needs (SEN) (such as giftedness, intellectual disabilities, specific learning disabilities such as dyslexia, attention deficits and hyperactivity, autistic spectrum disorders, etc.) in the mainstream schools, a research project is currently being undertaken by the Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). The project involves a writing contest and a survey. It is sponsored by the HKU 81 Inclusion Fund and Henry Chan Inclusive Education Funds. The aim of the Writing Contest is to foster public awareness on the development of inclusive education in Hong Kong; the aim of the survey is to investigate perceptions of different stakeholders on inclusive education.

As Mothers' Day is approaching, we hope that parents who have students with SEN could have this channel to voice out their feelings. The Writing Contest is open to all secondary school students and their parents in Hong Kong. There are four divisions: (1) Chinese submission for secondary school students, (2) English submission for secondary school students, (3) for Mothers, and (4) for Fathers. Both English and Chinese submissions are accepted for Mothers' and Fathers' divisions. Given the themes, "On the Same Campus: Students' Voices" and "On the Same Campus: Parents' Voices", participants are called to share their true life experiences of learning together with peers in the same classroom, regardless of what kind of diverse learning needs each is having. The panel of adjudicators will select five top outstanding entries from each division. Each award winner will receive a gift certificate of HK$500 and altogether 20 top award winning entries will be published in a compilation book. The book launch and prize presentation ceremony will be held at Rayson Huang Theatre, the University of Hong Kong on June 25, 2011 at 3 pm.

The deadline for Parents' Contest and Survey is May 26, 2011. Parents can access to the questionnaire and enroll for the Writing contest via our centre website while students can participate through their schools or email us at case@hku.hk to request for the survey.

The Centre is also running other events on promoting inclusive education. For instance, the fourth symposium of the Asia-pacific professional network for inclusive education will be held on 14th May from 9 am to 5 pm at Rayson Huang Theatre, the University of Hong Kong. For media enquiries and interview request, please contact Dr. Filiz Polat, Centre Director, Centre for Advancement in Inclusive and Special Education, Faculty of Education, HKU (Tel: 2857-8544 or E-mail: filiz.polat@hku.hk ); or, Dr.Vicky Tsang, Centre Associate Director (Tel: 2857-8377 or E-mail: klvtsang@hku.hk).