HONG KONG, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong Secretary for Education Michael Suen Tuesday attended the International Education Roundtable (IER) in Singapore, saying that Hong Kong was committed to nurturing all students to succeed in whole-person development and life-long learning.
According to the Hong Kong government website on Tuesday, the roundtable enabled participants to share their views and engage in professional exchanges on the themes of "The Challenges Ahead" and "Mobilizing Systems to Achieve the Goals".
It brought together education ministers and senior government officials from Australia, Canada, Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Sweden and the United States for an open dialogue on educational issues.
Speaking at the meeting, Suen said that there was the need to continue to maintain high academic achievement and all-round student development through quality teaching, effective leadership and effective schools that are responsive to changes and contemporary needs.
He said that there was keen demand on the education system to help solve social problems such as drug addiction, changing family structures and relationships.
"Society's ever-rising expectations have added pressure on teachers' workload which calls for stronger support to the profession from parents, the government and the wider community," he said.
The Secretary for Education told the roundtable that Hong Kong would try to devise a long-term research agenda required to enhance the education system from kindergarten to higher education.
Suen also took the opportunity to attend the 9th World Convention of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP),running concurrent to the IER.
The ICP provides a platform for more than 1,200 school principals from 40 countries and regions to discuss the modern challenges in school leadership under the convention's theme of " Charting the New Education Landscape".
Suen and the HK delegation will continue their visit in Singapore tomorrow by calling on local schools.
