Professor Lee (Prof John Lee Chi-kin, President, Education University of Hong Kong),

Professor Macfarlane (Prof Bruce Macfarlane, Dean, Faculty of Education and Human Department, Education University of Hong Kong)

Distinguished speakers, guests and friends,

Good morning.

It gives me great pleasure to be here today, to have the opportunity to address so many experts and leaders in the field of education. By bringing leading researchers and practitioners from around the world together, this conference is certainly setting the stage for new ideas and directions on policies and practices to emerge.

Education is, without a doubt, one of the most empowering tools for individuals to change their future, and for society to progress. In a world that is becoming simultaneously more complex and interdependent, it is imperative that we make diversity and inclusion the key values to guide our education policies and practices. As educators, I am sure you all know that inclusivity in education is not just about building infrastructure, providing facilities or increasing enrolment. It is a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of all learners through increasing participation in learning, cultures and communities, and reducing exclusion within and from education.

At the Equal Opportunities Commission or EOC in short, we are firmly committed to ensuring that all individuals, regardless of their ability, gender, cultural, or racial background, have access to education and are treated equally in the education setting. Such a right is protected by the law in Hong Kong, the anti-discrimination ordinances to be exact, which currently include the Sex Discrimination Ordinance, the Disability Discrimination Ordinance, the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance and the Race Discrimination Ordinance. These ordinances protect individuals from discrimination, harassment, and vilification on the grounds of sex, disability, family status, and race in various public domains, including education.

Essentially what the EOC does is enforcing and upholding the law, by handling and conciliating discrimination complaints, providing legal assistance, advising and advocating policy measures, and conducting training and public education.

Tackling sexual harassment has been one of our work priorities in recent years, and we have been working with local universities to foster safe and inclusive campuses by providing anti-sexual harassment training to students and staff members. Based on our research on sexuality education in Hong Kong, we have also provided policy recommendations to the government on ways to help young people make positive, respectful, and healthy choices about relationships and sex.

In terms of tackling disability discrimination, our policy advocacy over the years has successfully led to the establishment of the role of Special Educational Needs Coordinators to give students with special education needs or SEN more support in the classroom. Our recent research on the school-to-work transition for young people with disabilities has also highlighted the challenges they encounter in this critical period of their lives, and we will continue to work on translating our findings into concrete policy actions.

For non-ethnic Chinese students, we have been working to dismantle the barriers they face in accessing higher learning and potential employment opportunities, which stems primarily from their struggle to master Chinese in their school years. For years, we have been advocating an alternative Chinese curriculum and testing system, which takes into account the specific challenges faced by many NEC students in learning Chinese as a second or third language. Simultaneously, we have been working with different parties to promote a caring and diverse learning school environment. Over 60 local schools are now part of our Racially Friendly Campus Recognition Scheme, committing to promoting multiculturalism and inclusion on campuses, which will also serve to enhance the cross-cultural competence of students.

Beyond addressing challenges and barriers in education for specific marginalised groups, we are committed to instilling in the next generation the values of empathy, inclusion, and respect, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to become equality champions of tomorrow. Education, after all, is not just about passing on knowledge, but is also on disseminating and fostering positive values. Our Equal Opportunity Youth Ambassador scheme gives opportunities for tertiary students to explore issues related to diversity and inclusion through engaging experiential learning activities. For primary and secondary school students, we will soon be launching teaching materials to help them better understand the meaning and value of equal opportunities.

The progress we have made in advancing equal opportunities for all would not be possible without the contributions from and collaborations with our stakeholders, including certainly the academia. Your research and ideas are invaluable in helping us advocate for marginalised groups and make their voices heard. So I would like to end by calling for closer collaboration, between the EOC and all of you – to create a society that is truly free of discrimination. Thank you for inviting me here today and I wish the conference a great success.