Six students from FLASS awarded under President’s Commendation Scheme

FLASS believes that liberal arts education is more than just teaching technical skills and academic knowledge. It should help students to unlock their potential, thrive in their fields, and make contributions to society. Six FLASS students, named in the President’s Commendation Scheme’s list of awardees for the 2022/23 academic year, have demonstrated what this faculty aims to achieve.

The President’s Commendation Scheme recognises students’ outstanding achievements in areas beyond their academic studies. This year, a total of eight students from the University won awards under the scheme. Among them, four students from FLASS received the President’s Commendation Award – the highest level of recognition in the Scheme – for their distinguished performance over the past year in the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Service and Sports. Meanwhile, two other FLASS students were awarded the President’s Appreciation Award.

EdUHK President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung offered his heartfelt congratulations to all awardees. “The award-winning students have demonstrated exceptional performance, which attests to the University’s determination to promote students’ whole-person development,” he said. “I am particularly delighted to see the innovative spirit of our students. They have applied their creativity and knowledge in daily life, the arts, and education for the betterment of society.”

Miss Teresa Chan Hoi-yan, a third-year student of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Science) programme, is one of the recipients of the President’s Commendation Award. Passionate about volunteering work, she joined the “Paired-Reading Without Walls” online service project organised by the Student Affairs Office in 2020. Through the project organised during the pandemic, Ms Chan and other volunteers read picture books to children from ethnic minorities or underprivileged families, or with special educational needs. This experience has given her the impetus to continue to help the underprivileged to read books.

“Under a volunteering project organised by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Group, I created a reading guideline for children’s picture books,” Ms Chan said. “The guideline facilitates parents and caregivers to read books, assisted by role play, with children. Beneficiaries of the project are mainly kindergarten and primary school children and their family members from underprivileged backgrounds.”

Professor Li Wai-keung, Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, said: “The goal of liberal arts education is to develop a student’s character and teach them vital life skills so they can deal with challenges of life. We are very proud of the achievements of the six students from this faculty. Their achievements motivate us to work even harder in a bid to accomplish our ideal of whole-person development in education.”

The President’s Commendation Scheme Award is open to all full-time students enrolled at EdUHK. It recognises students’ performance in the areas of Arts and Culture, Community Service, Leadership, Sports, and Innovation, Science and Technology. Since its inception in 2010, over 130 students and groups have been awarded.

For the brief biographies of awardees from FLASS, please visit here.