Leading Future Education with Innovation

HONG KONG, Oct. 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Yew Chung Yew Wah (YCYW) Education Network campuses worldwide celebrated Founder's Day on 10 October, to honour the 92-year legacy and the remarkable contributions of its founder, Madam Tsang Chor-hang, to the field of education.

YCYW held the ceremony at the Yew Wah International Education School of Guangzhou (YWIES Guangzhou). This year also marks the milestone of YWIES Guangzhou's 10th anniversary. The school's steady growth reflects YCYW's strong commitment to innovation in China.

During the ceremony, Dr Betty Chan Po-king, CEO and School Supervisor of YCYW said, "We are united by Hau Cheung Po Po's mission to 'Honouring China' through exceptional education."

In 1932, Madam Tsang Chor-hang founded the first Yew Chung School with a vision of uplifting the nation through education during a time when China faced severe internal and external challenges. She guided the school through the difficult years of the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the post-war turmoil, nurturing countless students. What began as a humble kindergarten in Hong Kong SAR has since evolved into a global network of schools, spanning early childhood to tertiary education, with campuses in Hong Kong SAR, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Qingdao, Yantai, Chongqing, and Zhejiang Tongxiang in China, as well as in Silicon Valley in the US, and Somerset in the UK.

For nearly a century, YCYW has been a pioneer in international education. With the development of China's reform and opening-up, the demand for high-quality international education in the Chinese mainland has continued to grow. In response, YCYW has established Yew Chung International Schools (YCIS) for expatriate students, and Yew Wah International Education Schools (YWIES) mainly enrolling Chinese mainland students. YCYW provides a unique bilingual learning community that blends the strengths of both Chinese and Western educational philosophies, setting a new standard for international education in contemporary China.

YWIES Guangzhou epitomises YCYW's accomplishments. Dr Betty Chan Po-king highlighted the school's achievements. Since its establishment in 2014, YWIES Guangzhou has celebrated remarkable success. Its graduates have gained admission to prestigious universities around the world, including Oxford, Cambridge, and other renowned institutions in the United States and elsewhere. In 2023, the school was designated as one of the first demonstration schools for international education in Guangzhou under the "14^th Five-Year Plan for the Development of Education in Guangzhou", a testament to the high-quality education and the strength of YCYW's educational philosophy.

Driven by its commitment to provide quality international education to more families, YCYW will continue to embrace a multicultural approach to education in China. Starting in the 2025/26 academic year, YWIES Guangzhou and YCIS Shanghai will introduce the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) programme, in addition to the existing Advanced Level of the British General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) and the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes. YCYW is dedicated to fostering the integration and sharing of educational resources between Hong Kong SAR and the Chinese mainland, and promoting the development of high-quality teaching, learning, and research.

Moreover, in order to address the challenges posed by the current era of artificial intelligence, YCYW is actively exploring a new educational paradigm to lead future-oriented education. YCYW launched the Future School Programme this year to enhance the innovative capabilities of the EdFutures Division and implement its forward-looking educational approach.

The Future School Programme is an innovative educational initiative developed by YCYW. It adopts a university-style modular learning approach, which allows students to customise their learning experiences based on their personal interests and development goals and to explore future career paths. Dr Betty Chan Po-king described the Future School Programme as "a rethinking of education". The programme strives to address topics of particular importance in the 21^st century, and encourages students to undertake philosophical investigations to deepen their understanding of the world. It also includes courses on entrepreneurship to help students develop the skills and mindset needed to innovate and succeed in a rapidly changing global economy.

YWIES Zhejiang Tongxiang has taken the lead in implementing the Future School Programme at the upper secondary level. The ceremony also unveiled the school's newly upgraded campus, which combines STEM learning, art creation, interactive displays, and other multifunctional features. YCYW plans to expand the Future School Programme to other campuses in the future.

The EdFutures Division is another key component of YCYW's "Seeds for the Future" programme, which aims to transcend the boundaries of traditional education. This initiative encourages students to cultivate lateral thinking skills and develop the ability to integrate diverse insights into a cohesive understanding, so that they can become the leaders in their own learning journeys. EdFutures has formed active collaboration with prestigious institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR). These partnerships enable students to interact personally with industry experts and immerse themselves in real-world scenarios, thus enhancing their educational experience and preparing them for future challenges.

In addition, Dr Betty Chan Po-king shared an important milestone in YCYW's history. The Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education (YCCECE) has successfully achieved institutional accreditation for operating Postgraduate programmes at Qualifications Framework Level 6. YCCECE will launch the new Master of Education and the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE in Early Childhood Education) programmes in the 2025/26 academic year. YCCECE will become the first private institution in Hong Kong SAR to offer the PGDE and the Master's Degree in Education.

Looking ahead, YCYW remains dedicated to fostering the next generation of leaders, with a mission to continue pushing the boundaries of education. Dr Betty Chan Po-king concluded, "It takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred years to raise people. Let's honour the remarkable journey that has brought us here, and look ahead with renewed determination, as we continue to cultivate the seeds of greatness in our students, who will shape a better future for humanity."

About Yew Chung Yew Wah Education Network

An education pioneer with deep roots in Hong Kong SAR, Yew Chung Yew Wah (YCYW) Education Network encapsulates a unique educational pedigree that combines the best of Chinese and Western cultures with a mission to raise competent, compassionate, globally aware leaders who strive for a better world. Visionary educator Madam Tsang Chor-hang founded the first Yew Chung school and kindergarten in Hong Kong, China in 1932. In the 1970s, Dr Betty Chan Po-king picked up her mantle to provide high quality bilingual education. In the 1990s, Yew Chung was invited to Shanghai and Beijing to open schools for expatriate communities in the Chinese mainland. Madam Tsang was ably succeeded by her daughter Dr Betty Chan Po-king, who, along with her husband Professor Paul Yip Kwok-wah, later founded the YCYW Education Network to prepare Chinese and expatriate students to make lifelong contributions on the international stage.

With nearly a century of dedication to education, the YCYW Education Network now offers a complete track from early childhood to tertiary education. The Yew Chung Approach to Early Childhood Education: Centering Emergent Curriculum, Child-Led Inquiry, and Multilingualism explains the 12 Values that lie at the core of YCYW and form the basis of our pedagogy. The Yew Chung Approach offers a unique and innovative perspective in the field of education. It combines traditional Chinese Confucianism with Dewey's progressive education theory, affirms the importance of international education, provides a learning environment inclusive of both Chinese and Western cultures, and has laid the foundation for the innovative development of early childhood education curriculum in the 21^st century.

YCYW has an extensive network of schools, including Yew Chung International Schools, the Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education, Yew Wah International Education Schools, Yew Wah Schools, Yew Wah International Education Kindergartens, Yew Wah Infant and Toddler Education Centres, and the Yew Wah Infant and Toddler Discovery Centres. YCYW schools are located in eight cities of China¡XHong Kong SAR, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Qingdao, Yantai, Zhejiang Tongxiang¡Xas well as in Silicon Valley in the US, and Somerset in the UK. YCYW provides quality education and growth opportunities to more than 12,000 students and teachers each year.