Does the Policy Address adequately answer the Higher Educational needs of young people? The Policy Address set out the object to make Hong Kong a regional education hub. It also indicated that self-financing degree programmes could be expanded to provide a further 4,000 places. While this initiative is welcome, the Federation remains concerned about whether this is sufficient. In Hong Kong the demand for higher education is increasing. Therefore, to meet this need, many more opportunities need to be provided. These could include, not only the further expansion of the self-financing higher education institutions, but also increasing the percentage of students who receive public funding to attend universities. To ensure the sustainability of a progressive society, investment in education is a must. Providing more opportunities is one way to see that this foundation stone is laid. What's new Enrollment for FIRST LEGO League begins Each September, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) announces the annual First Lego League (FLL) Robotics Challenge and Research Project. In the Robotics Challenge, teams use the LEGO MINDSTORMS kit to construct and programme a fully autonomous robot in problem-solving, brainstorming, designing, building and testing sessions. The winning teams may get the opportunity to represent Hong Kong at overseas. A briefing session for enrolled teams took place on 10 October and workshops are scheduled for 11 November. More details are available from Alice Lui, tel 3755 7067. LEAD showcase on 17 October The Showcase will take place at the Arcade of Cyberport from 10 to 5pm. Inspired by the theme of "In Search for a Happy Legend", students from 13 primary and secondary schools will display their projects with innovative technologies. Visitors are welcome to vote on-the-spot for their favourite project. Enquiries to Joanna Cheung, tel 3106 0600. Felix Wong Youth Improvement Award Prize Presentation Ceremony Date: Saturday 31 October Time: 10am-12pm Venue: 9/F, Auditorium, HKFYG Building Officiating Guest: Justice Patrick Chan, Permanent Judge of the Court of Final Appeal Two rounds of interviews had already taken place with 142 youngsters through 80 schools. 20 admirable young winners had been selected by the judging panels. This award will be presented to those who have prevailed against hardships and extraordinary difficulties in their short lives. Contact Siu-man Hsu, tel 3755 7066 for more details. Innovation Festival kicks off on 24 Oct Running from 24 October to 8 November, the Innovation Festival will carry out a series of innovative and fun-filled programmes to promote and cultivate the public interest in innovation, science and technology. Organized by the Innovation and Technology Commission and partnered with the HKFYG, the Festival will be inaugurated at its first road show in Dragon Center in Sham Shui Po on 24 October. This will be followed by 2 more road shows in Cityplaza, Taikoo Shing and the Tsing Yi Promenade on 30 October - 1 November and 14-15 November. The road shows will feature a series of workshops and exhibitions. The exhibitions will include the winning projects of the Hong Kong Student Science Project Competition. The Innovation Festival is to enrich public knowledge in aerospace and innovation technology. The InnoCarnival will be held from 5 - 8 November at the Hong Kong Science Park. With the support of industry players and academia, a wide variety of seminars, workshops and exhibitions will also be launched. For programme details and registration, visit http://innofest09.u21.hk/ or contact Crystal Yuen and Olivia Tang at 2561 6149. Thank you partners Hung Hing Ying and Leung Hau Ling Charitable Foundation supports LEAD Creative Class 2009/10 With generous funding from the Hung Hing Ying and Leung Hau Ling Charitable Foundation, the LEAD Project set up the LEAD Creative Class in 2008. In the LEAD Creative Class, teachers are encouraged to bring into the classroom the latest digital technologies, developed at the MIT Media Lab. This is to help their students think creatively as they design and engineer innovative products related to the curriculum. The Hung Hing Ying and Leung Hau Ling Charitable Foundation will continue to fund the programme for the year 2009/10. Contact Joanna Cheung on 3106 0600 for more details. Free tickets to the production of Romeo and Juliet by the Hong Kong Ballet The Hong Kong Ballet donated tickets for the ballet, Romeo and Juliet to be performed at the Grand Theatre, Hong Kong Cultural Centre on 18 and 24 October. The tickets are to enable underprivileged young people to enjoy a new cultural experience. Transportation will be provided and an explanatory talk will also be given in order to highlight the appreciation of both the dance and the story. Enquiries to Brenda Yip, tel 3755 7102. Donation from MARS Foods Inc. in support of the Federation's Flag Day MARS Foods Inc., one of the crossover partners of the Transformers II movie, launched a special sale of Limited Edition Collectors' items on 23 and 24 June, exclusively at UA Cinemas at MegaBox. Part of the proceeds was donated to the HKFYG. Contact Bonnie Cheng, tel 3755 7101 for more details. Free NIVEA products from IDS Group The HKFYG received over 8,000 pieces of NIVEA products from IDS Group for distribution to HKFYG members and service users. Products include body lotion, deodorant sprays, facial foams, shaving foams, hydro-gel, lip care products and eye makeup remover pads. For more details, please contact Brenda Yip, tel 3755 7102. Just published How do students feel about private tuition? HKFYG's territory-wide telephone Youth Poll 188 surveyed 521 students between Primary 5 and Secondary 7 on their views and participation in private tuition. The findings were compared with a similar survey conducted by the Federation in 1996* . Over half (56.7%) of the respondents had taken private tuition in the past six months; up from about a third (34%) in 1996. The main reason was to improve academic performance in English and mathematics. Some also took private tuition for Liberal Studies. A quarter (25.3%) said that they would consider using online private tuition services, if available. When choosing a tutorial school the three top concerns were tuition fees (46.1%), qualifications of tutors (36.2%) and standards of teaching (26.1%). Services in the private or commercial sector were more popular than those provided by the NGOs or social service organizations. A Chinese press release is at http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/yrc/chinese/yr-p188c.html. Call Sharon Cheung, tel 3755 7039 for more information. * The Federation conducted the survey in May 1996 on 507 students aged 10 to 19. For details, please refer to Youth Poll Series No. 34 or click http://yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/chinese/yr-p34-c.html