Press Release - Post Covid-19 World: Youths from Six Countries Brainstorm for Solutions towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Future

Over 600 youths from six countries will be attending the biennial ITE-VTC International Student Seminar from 20 to 21 Jun 2022 to discuss and exchange ideas and innovative solutions towards an inclusive and sustainable post Covid-19 world. This is the first time this Seminar is held in virtual-hybrid format since its inception in 2007.  

The ITE-VTC International Student Seminar (ISS) is a biennial event jointly organised by the Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore, and Vocational Training Council (VTC), Hong Kong since 2007. In 2009, it was taken to a global level with the participation of other international partners from Australia, Germany and Canada. VTC hosted the Seminar in Hong Kong in 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. ITE hosted the Seminar in Singapore in 2009, 2013 and 2017. Over the last 15 years, over 4,500 students had participated in ISS. 

Seminar Theme 
The theme of this year’s Seminar is, ‘Post Covid-19 World: Towards an Inclusive and Sustainable Future’, with three sub-themes on: Inclusivity, Reimagining and Sustainability. Student participants from ITE; VTC; University of the West of England, United Kingdom; Singapore Polytechnic; and Global Education Network (GEN) partners comprising Box Hill Institute, Australia; Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, Canada; and Kirkwood Community College, USA, will deliver a presentation on these themes.

The Seminar’s Opening Ceremony on 20 Jun 2022 at ITE College West will be officiated by Guest-of-Honour, Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman, Minister, Prime Minister's Office, Second Minister for Education and Second Minister for Foreign Affairs.  

Collaboration on Technical Diploma Programmes 
A total of 16 project presentations will be featured at the Seminar – one joint presentation by ITE and VTC students, six presentations each from ITE and VTC, and one presentation from each participating local and international institution (ITE and VTC projects can be found in Annex A). Some inclusive and sustainable initiatives ITE students have come up with include:

• SiO2 – Using art and aesthetics to promote recycling and upcycling of glass waste, the team conducted Upcycling Workshops and Art Installations on Campus, breathing new life to glass forms.

• The Kindness Project: Inclusivity@CE – The team designed and implemented various physical and virtual outreach programmes to address physical isolation, especially for seniors living alone, and created audiobooks on cyber etiquette with the support of Singapore Kindness Movement to address youth cyber-bullying.

• Eduverz – In partnership with Finute Pte Ltd, the team used Unity software, a metaverse application, to create and conceptualise 3-dimensional (3D) virtual immersive classroom, to promote practical learning through 3D teaching and learning.

Speakers
Leading Speakers from Singapore and Hong Kong have been invited to lend their unique insights on the three sub-themes.  These are as follows: 

Day 1
Mr Mark Chay, Nominated Member of Parliament and Executive Director of Global Esports Federation (Singapore) [Keynote Speaker]

Ms Seah Yang Hee, Deputy CEO, National Council of Social Services (NCSS) (Singapore)[Sub-theme Speaker: Inclusivity]

Day 2
Mr Terrence Hui, CEO, Yick Shun Electronic Toys Manufactory Limited (Hong Kong)
[Sub-theme Speaker: Reimagining]

Dr Yau Wing Kwong, J.P, CEO, Environmental Association and Chairman, Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund (Hong Kong) [Sub-theme Speaker: Sustainability]

Annex A ISS 2022 Project Synopsis [PDF, 223 KB]