New partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Young Founders Club and BSD Education to enable secondary school students in Hong Kong with real-world skills for the future of work.
Hong Kong SAR (April 19, 2022) —
We are excited to announce a new collaboration with the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and Young Founders School, to launch a Virtual Internship Program for local Hong Kong students this year. Through this program, our goal is to enable students to see future careers as attainable by providing them with real-life work experiences.
Previously, we’ve partnered with Young Founders School, a non-profit charity aimed at creating real-world business opportunities for secondary school students, to provide entrepreneurship programs and ideation workshops. With this new collaboration with Hong Kong Jockey Club, we hope to reach more students and prepare them with the skills required for their future careers.
The Virtual Internship Program is a unique project-based internship that allows students to apply their skills and mindsets to real projects that deliver genuine value to a partner company. Over the 2-week internship, students grow in 3 primary areas:
Students can discover, learn and practice new skills and knowledge by working on real projects in an authentic working environment and schedule. We have curated a broad range of exemplary projects that can deliver valuable work for companies while being calibrated for students to engage with. Students learn from business professionals and become better prepared for future work.
I am happy and have learned a lot of new knowledge and professional skills during 2 weeks' time. For example, it was my first time sending emails and creating meeting and calendar invites. The experience also changed my perspective and understanding of Chinese opera. It was an interesting and valuable internship experience.”
More than 90 companies from all over the world including Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and the UK have joined as host companies to support young people to take their first step into the world of work. These companies represent diverse industries, sizes, and cultures. Students can discover new perspectives on industries and become inspired by possibilities for their future career development.
“I participated in different positions during my internship experience, including research, design, and social media management. Joel and Peggy have given me different opportunities to learn about social media, understand what an NGO's social media is like, and build my critical thinking skills when problems came up.”
Students will complete their internship with a LinkedIn profile. The opportunity to have verified endorsements from the professionals they work with, and a chance to extend learning opportunities beyond the internship by building and maintaining strong relationships for their futures. It is never too early for young people to start building their work profile and their network in the business world.
“I thought if I had a good work performance in the internship program, I would have a chance to develop a long-term relationship with the company in the future. I am happy Karen offered a 2-month internship opportunity to me in the coming summer holiday after my final presentation. I definitely willing to try and engage in different areas with the team.”
We open the doors to the opportunities in the future of work for the next generation while still in secondary (high) school. We empower students to stand out from the crowd, think about their futures and develop a portfolio of demonstrable experiences to strive for a dream career, especially for students who do not plan or are not able to progress to university.
“I am impressed by the students’ level of commitment and creativity and I am also glad to hear from them how much they have learned during this period. I really think this program gives them a taste of what a real-life work environment is like. We are proud to be part of such a meaningful and impactful program! I truly believe students are our future!”
In just a few short months, we’ve already seen twenty-one schools sign up for the program and over 140 students will be participating by the end of the summer. Thanks to the early summer break in March, we were able to kick-start the program for F.4 and F.5 students and many of our participating companies have already agreed to offer further project opportunities for students throughout the school year.
Learn more about BSD Education here, while additional information about Young Founders School is available here.
ABOUT BSD (BUILD SOMETHING DIFFERENT) EDUCATION
BSD Education designs, develops and delivers programs of learning for digital skills, enabling teachers to bring real world technology education to every classroom. This is achieved by providing a project-based technology curriculum for 8-18 year olds that is delivered through an online learning platform with comprehensive training and year round support available. Programs are mapped to a range of international standards and can be implemented immediately by teachers with no prior technology experience. With curriculum for technology courses, all core subjects, career related study and after school and technology camps, BSD can be used by all teachers to give their students the essential technology skills and mindsets to succeed in the future. To stay connected, “Like”, “Follow” and “Share” #BSDeducation on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.Â
ABOUT YOUNG FOUNDERS SCHOOL
Young Founders School’s mission is to use entrepreneurship to teach 21st-Century Skills to 11-18 years old, globally. We believe that students are never too young to make a difference in the world. Today, we provide an immersive startup environment in which students learn the very latest startup theory whilst connecting them with real entrepreneurs to provide mentorship.
ABOUT HONG KONG JOCKEY CLUB CHARITIES TRUST
Working with the Government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community partners, the Trust is committed to improving the quality of life of the people of Hong Kong. As a philanthropic organisation in its own right, the Trust also proactively identifies and initiates projects that anticipate future community and social needs.
BSD Education (Build Something Different) partners with educators to bring technology education into classrooms through our programs of learning, online learning platform and professional development training.