Speech at the Graduation Ceremony of Braemar Hill Nursery School

Speech by Mr Raymond H C Wong, JP

Permanent Secretary for Education

at the Graduation Ceremony of Braemar Hill Nursery School

                          on Thursday, 5 July 2007                       

Mrs Lu, Distinguished guests, parents, teachers, students, Ladies and Gentlemen,

                         It gives me great pleasure to join you here today and to share with you this joyous and memorable occasion of the 23^rd Graduation Ceremony of Braemar Hill Nursery School.  Let me first express my warmest congratulations to our young graduates who have successfully gone through an important phase of study that lays the foundation of life-long learning.  Thanks must go to parents and teachers for having given their children their unfailing support and an enabling environment in which children’s potential is nurtured and developed through a wide variety of excellent learning experiences.

                       Our new generations will face a much faster changing world than we did decades ago.  Globalization, the advent of information technology, and the development of a knowledge-based economy are leading to changes at an unprecedented rate and scale.  The knowledge children learnt at schools will soon lag behind the development of the society.  In the face of the challenges ahead, we need to equip our new generation to be “life-long learners” and with the ability to “learn how to learn”, so that they can keep abreast of changes and become active and valuable members of our community.

                        While the school is an important place for children’s education, families play an equally critical role in the development of their children.  In particular, parents are instrumental in their personal growth and attitudes towards life.  The partnership Braemar Hill Nursery School has forged with parents has contributed significantly to making learning more interesting and effective for students.  The ethos of this caring school culture has supported the school management, teachers and parents in the quest for a high quality education.

                        To prepare our children for the future, we need to provide them with the opportunities to develop the generic skills that are needed for them to become life long learners.  Apart from knowledge, our children need to develop their skills to acquire, construct and communicate knowledge.  They should also be able to collaborate with others, be ready to listen and be creative in their thinking.  Most of all, at this early stage of development, a positive view of themselves as learners is the most important benefit we can inculcate in our children.

                        This is much more than showing our children the path of learning we, as adults, have gone through.  A big challenge for us, as parents or educators, is to equip our children with the knowledge, skills, and values for all-round and whole-person development.  Our vision of education for the 21^st century is to enable all our children to develop their potential to the fullest extent.  It will be the concerted efforts by the government, frontline educators and the community as a whole which will translate our vision into reality.

                        To parents, I wish to express my appreciation of your active contributions towards your child’s education.  Today is a great day both to you and to your child.  I am sure that the graduation ceremony will stay in your child’s memory as well as yours forever.  I would also like to congratulate the school and the teachers on their efforts and contributions in promoting the development and education of our young children. 

                        To all graduates, once again, my warmest congratulations on your achievements in Braemar Hill Nursery School .  May I wish you every success in your future studies.  Finally, I wish you all a very enjoyable summer holiday.  Thank you.