Once Upon A Book Storytelling Outreach Event

Dr Wong (Chairperson of Education Commission, Dr David Wong), Dr Chan (Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), Dr Anissa Chan), Mr Pang (Member of SCOLAR, Mr Tony Pang), Dr Lee (Member of SCOLAR, Dr Diana Lee), Distinguished Guests, Principals, Teachers, Parents, Students, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon.  I am most delighted to join the Once Upon A Book Storytelling Outreach 2025/26 today as we celebrate students’ English proficiency and their remarkable achievements in the Storytelling Competition.  A very warm welcome to all dedicated educators, school principals, teachers, parents and students here.  Your presence shows the support and commitment to fostering a shared love for English storytelling, language learning and above all, reading beyond the classroom and as a lifelong journey.

It is no overstatement that the learning journey begins with reading, which has become ever more important in the era of emergence of artificial intelligence.  The Education Bureau has therefore all along been committed to supporting schools in the promotion of reading.  For example, we gathered over thirty thousand teachers and students from both online and offline last month to take part in a joint school reading initiative. Among them, 1,119 teachers and students took part on site and successfully set a Guinness World Record for the “Largest multimodal literacy lesson”.

As a further testimony of our commitment in this aspect, the Once Upon A Book Storytelling Outreach event today connects reading, English language learning and storytelling into a vibrant community event that inspires creativity, promotes literacy development and nurtures lifelong reading habits.

Apart from disbursing the Promotion of Reading Grant to all public sector schools to support them in strengthening the promotion of reading and encourage students to develop a good reading habit from a young age,  we have also been strengthening cross-curricular learning and Reading Across the Curriculum, providing teacher training, developing multimodal resources that enhance reading skills at both the primary and secondary levels, as well as organising a diverse range of student competitions and activities. 

In the 2024/25 school year, over 70,000 places have been provided for students to take part in various kinds of English language learning activities, for example, our “Sayings of Wisdom” campaign, “Time to Talk” Public Speaking Competition, and our latest territory-wide speaking initiatives “Speak Your Mind” and “Roaming Mic Challenge” launched on social media platforms.  These initiatives have contributed to creating a language-rich learning environment that nurtures students’ interest in reading at different key stages, as well as enhancing their biliterate and trilingual skills.   

Schools are also encouraged to plan holistically and provide students with reading experiences both within and beyond the classroom.   Through these experiences, students not only acquire knowledge and develop creative and critical thinking skills, but also learn proper values and attitudes, thereby building a solid foundation for lifelong language learning and fostering a love of reading.

Now in its second year, the Once Upon A Book Storytelling Competition stands out as a unique platform for students to showcase their storytelling techniques and speaking confidence by recommending a book of their choice through video presentations or live performances.  It aligns with the goal of sharing the joy of reading and fostering community-wide engagement in storytelling. Storytelling brings reading to life, and the Outreach event reminds us that reading is a shared journey, as winning school teams showcase their creativity and share their passion for reading.

In closing, I extend my sincere gratitude to the Hong Kong Animal Assisted Therapy Association for offering a special reading session with therapy dogs, and to the Hong Kong Public Libraries for launching the “Library on Wheels” project.  These collective efforts highlight our shared commitment to promoting reading for all.  I wish everyone an inspiring and memorable reading experience this afternoon.

Thank you.