The Vocational Training Council (VTC) wishes to work with a UK FE College that can send a group of up to 10 students to participate in the ‘VTC-ITE International Student Seminar 2019’ on 17-20 June 2019 in Hong Kong.

Participants from the UK FE College will be offered free accommodation (at the Halls of Residence of VTC), meals and relevant cultural visit/exploration progammes during the event by VTC. The maximum number of participants are 10 students along with 3 accompanying staff members. The UK FE institution will need to meet travel expenses between HK and the UK (hence employer partner funding may be advisable if funding is not available from your institution). The VTC would prefer to work with a single FE College for ease of arranging the programme.

The International Student Seminar (ISS) is a biennial event started in 2007 and hosted by VTC and the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) in Singapore alternately. The purpose of this 4-day event is to provide an opportunity for students at Higher Diploma level (from age 18-20) to exchange ideas on global issues through various interactive activities, including presentations, exhibitions, performances and cultural/ industrial visits.

The main theme of the ISS 2019 is “A Smarter Generation for 2020+”, which aims to raise students’ awareness of innovation and technology advancement globally and, as a result, its impact on individuals and society.
 

• Sub-theme I: Smart Living – Are you living smart?

Smart Living enhances the overall life experience of people in a city, across age groups and demographics, resulting in a safer, more secure, accessible and happy society. This sub-theme aims to encourage youths to generate new ideas that enhance daily living experience using new technologies, digitalization and electronic services where appropriate; as well as to reflect on the impact to the general citizen well-being.

• Sub-theme II: Smart Environment – How well are you protecting the environment?

Rapid urbanisation has created great impacts on the environment.  Both the Hong Kong and Singapore governments strive to implement different strategies to enhance the city sustainability in terms of energy saving and development, waste reduction, pollution control and sustainable use of resources. This sub-theme aims to encourage youths to generate new ideas, riding on technologies where appropriate, that reduce waste production, encourage recycling and monitor pollution to improve the environment. 

• Sub-theme III: Smart Economy – Entrepreneur of the future?

New technologies enable us to erase the boundaries of space and time as well as grow our business faster and safer. This sub-theme aims to encourage youths to generate new ideas in daily and business activities that leverage on innovative and creative means, reflect on the impact of the shift to e-commerce and propose innovative solutions to meet future challenges.

Notes for Participation of Students in the ISS 2019

Students from participating VPET institutes are required to either conduct a presentation or exhibit their work/key findings in one of the sub-themes. Students who choose the latter option will have to present at their own booths to showcase/answer questions during the time.

As for students from VTC and ITE, they will share their ideas, findings and reflections on the chosen sub-theme through presentation and exhibition. There will be a total of 6 presentation teams (3 teams from VTC and ITE each) from 12 exhibition teams (6 teams from VTC and ITE each).

The tentative ISS 2019 programme are available upon request while a video of the ISS 2015 is available on the VTC website (HERE) for reference.