Letters | In pursuing youth development, Hong Kong must think long-term

Firstly, while STEM education is worth promoting, we should not lose sight of the value of the humanities. Promoting cultural exchanges and creating opportunities to deepen understanding of sports, arts and culture could be a good start. It is also important to allocate enough resources to schools so that there is central coordination of cultural programmes, language learning and values education. An effective approach would be to establish the position of humanities education coordinator at schools so that the humanities will receive the same attention as science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or special educational needs.

Secondly, we should think twice about the expansion of the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors and the introduction of applied degree programmes. I do think it is necessary to increase the connectivity between study and work but the proliferation of vocationally oriented degree programmes may defeat the purpose of university education, where the depth of academic exploration is valued.

Instead of churning out technocrats, bachelor’s degree programmes should strike a balance between cooperative education and development of research skills. This way university education distinguishes itself from secondary school education and technical training.

Thirdly, the blueprint should strengthen connections at policy level. While the government should be lauded for being proactive in, for example, identifying land for housing development, this could be an exercise in compartmentalisation without life planning. A structured school curriculum is required to equip students with the principles necessary for life planning at a young age.

Most importantly, collaboration between government departments would lift the youth policy to a new level. For example, the education and labour bureaus should work together to widen young people’s exposure to the world of work.