Principals, Staff and Students from Secondary Schools

My ITE Colleagues

Ladies and Gentlemen

Introduction

1           We have just had an exciting skills competition. Congratulations to all the finalists of IgnITE Skills Challenge 2019. Only one in five teams who take part in the preliminary rounds make it to the Finals. So every finalist here, you have already proven that you are a skilled individual and you are a winner in your own right. Congratulations to all finalists!

2           IgnITE Skills Challenge was launched in 2016 and is open only to students from the Normal Course. This competition has become increasingly popular among the secondary schools. In 2016, there were 556 teams from 68 schools and 1662 competitors. This year, the numbers have all risen. We have 645 teams, that means 100 more than 2016. The teams are from 71 schools and altogether, there are 1828 competitors. Today, 150 teams from 55 schools are competing in the Finals.

3           This Skills Challenge is a good showcase of ‘Applied Learning’. It is a great opportunity for students to apply your knowledge and skills from a particular field to tackle real-world problems to create useful solutions and products.

4          Secondary school students have applied learning options beyond the subjects taught in their classrooms. They can choose from ITE’s 47 Applied Learning Elective Modules. The applied learning topics are related to Health Sciences, Business, Design & Media, Engineering, Hospitality Services, and IT, as well as in Mathematics & Science. These applied learning modules serve as a taster for students to discover your strengths and explore different post- secondary course options.

5          I toured the 15 Skill Challenges just now and saw many fascinating problem-solving tasks and scenarios, as well as students’ creative solutions and products. I just want to share three Challenges in emerging skills areas:

First, the Drone Challenge. Students applied programming skills such as visual code blocks, to programme and fly a drone as well as to pilot the drone through obstacles.

Second, Social Medial Retailing Challenge. Students did market research, identified target market and used various software to create digital content (such as video and photos) to promote their products online and through social media.

The third, Data Analytics and Visualisation Challenge. Students analysed data and used software such as Tableau, to create dashboards and data visuals to represent their insights from the data.

6           Before we announce the winners, I would like to thank the secondary schools leaders and teachers for your very strong support. Let’s thank the teachers and Principals. I would also like to extend my appreciation to the Sponsors who have contributed generously to the prizes. A big ‘Thank You’ to my fellow ITE colleagues, for organising IgnITE Skills Challenge, executing the training over the months and today’s competition.

7           Students, I applaud you for challenging yourselves! No matter who wins, your effort today will not go to waste because the journey of self-discovery is always more important than the results.

8           Congratulations and I wish you all the best for your future! Thank you!