BOC Life partners with St. James’ Settlement and Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged to promote STEAM education while nurturing innovation and technology talents

BOC Group Life Assurance Company Limited (BOC Life) joint hands with St. James’ Settlement in staging the 2022-2023 “New Generation Financial and Technology Designers’ Programme” (the Programme) Competition cum Graduation Ceremony today, with the winners of the year selected by the judges at the event.

The Programme aims to promote STEAM education¹ in Hong Kong - students are empowered through coding learning to unleash their creativity and potential in science and research. More to this, the Programme also strives to build students’ awareness and habits of caring the environment from an early stage, the elements of environmental protection were incorporated in the program curriculum. Since its inception in 2021, the Programme has benefited a total of close to 310 underprivileged students from 11 primary schools.

Vivienne Chiu, BOC Life’s Chief Brand and Communications Officer, said: “BOC Life actively practices corporate citizenship through cross-industry collaboration to create diverse social value and multiple wins. Education is a key part of BOC Life’s philanthropic agenda.” Ms. Chiu added, “We are very pleased to partner with St. James’ Settlement in fostering STEAM education while sowing the seeds of innovation and technology for the students. Through coding education, the Programme will help nurture students to become future talents in the field of innovation and technology. We are also grateful for the tremendous support from the Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged under the Social Welfare Department, that benefits more participating students in the Programme.”

The Programme offers two courses respectively for junior and senior primary students. Primary two and three students were enrolled on programming and environmentally friendly robotic workshops where they learned different coding techniques and practiced upcycling through making robots from recycled materials - the ocean-themed motors inspired school children to think about the harmfulness resulted by ocean debris. Primary four to six students took part in AI and wealth management programming workshops. Basic understanding of FinTech knowledge and its application was taught on top of the coding skills, with which students develop mobile phone apps tailored to support the underprivileged. In addition, students will also learn environmental protection concept through the second-hand items exchange app developed.

“Our heartfelt thanks for the supports from BOC Life and Partnership Fund for the Disadvantaged of Social Welfare Department to the Programme. The Programme provides opportunities for the students to learn knowledge and application of STEAM. The Competition cum Graduation Ceremony today enables the students to learn from each other and, more importantly, to show their enormous creativity and their care to the community and environment. We hope that the Programme can inspire the students to innovate continuously and make use of what they had learnt,” said Wendy Cheung, Assistant Chief Executive Officer of St. James’ Settlement.

The winning pieces of this year not only demonstrates the students’ boundless creativity, but also exhibit their talent for upcycling from transforming everyday materials. The entries employ various materials such as beverage cartons, micro:bit components, servos, LED lights, and rainbow electric cables. The applications successfully interweave the idea of technology and care for the environment in their daily lives.

¹STEAM education refers to Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.