Flagship Projects

Phase I: June 2016 – August 2022; Phase II: January 2022 – August 2026

PI: Professor CHUNG Kevin Kien Hoa

Funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust

The “C-for-Chinese@JC” project is created and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, and co-created by three local universities and two non-governmental organisations. Since its launch in 2016, the Project has adopted a “home-school-community” collaborative model to foster and create culturally responsive education for kindergartens, pleasurable and meaningful learning environment in improving the non-Chinese speaking (NCS) Ethnic Minorities (EM) students for Chinese proficiency and Chinese students for social competence. Building on past learnings, Phase II of the Project commencing in 2022 bids to support kindergarten with a set of “Culturally Responsive Education Benchmarks”. This practical framework aims to enhance the Chinese learning and social-emotional competence of both NCS EM and Chinese students; as well as their transitions to primary education. By 2026, the Project targets to support 42,000 kindergarten students, including 5,100 NCS EM students and their families.

Phase I: October 2015 – December 2021; Phase II: September 2022 – August 2025

Co-PIs: Professor CHUNG Kevin Kien Hoa, Dr. LAM Chun Bun Ian

Funded by the Simon K.Y. Lee Foundation

The 3Es project seeks to develop an evidence-based, tiered intervention curriculum that promotes the socioemotional competence of kindergarten children in Hong Kong. Expanding on both local and international research, the project has developed an award-winning assessment tool – the Chinese Inventory of Children’s Socioemotional Competence (CICSEC) – that can quickly evaluate children’s level of socioemotional competence. It has also developed a series of teaching and training materials that enhances children’s social and emotional skills. Importantly, it was also effective in reducing the behavioral problems and improving the academic achievement of children. Since 2021-2022, the 3Es Programme has been used by Education Bureau as an enrichment curriculum to promote the social-emotional competence of young children in Hong Kong.

The project moved into a new three-year stage (Phase II) in September 2022, entitled ‘Early Advancement in Resilience: A Downward Extension of the 3Es Programme that Promotes Children’s Social-emotional Competence’. It focuses on the social-emotional development of two- to four-year-old students from socio-economically disadvantaged families. The project will develop a teacher-rated inventory that allows schools to measure nursery school and K1 children’s social-emotional abilities quickly and reliably, as well as a multi-faceted programme that promotes children’s social-emotional competence using games, play-based activities, and storybooks.

Phase I: January 2021 – June 2024; Phase II: July 2024 – June 2029

PI: Professor CHUNG Kevin Kien Hoa

Funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust

The Jockey Club Project RISE aims to support primary school students with dyslexia to learn English. In Phase I, the project developed the Hong Kong Test of English Reading and Writing for Junior Primary School Students (Primary 2 and 3) (HKT-PE(J), an assessment tool  that allows teachers to understand students’ English language and literacy skills. It has also designed and implemented an enrichment programme for Grades 2 and 3, which includes essential components for students to learn English using multi-sensory approaches and repeated reading strategies. On-site school support with lesson observations and collaborative lesson planning were provided to schools.

Phase II of the Project started in July 2024, targeting students from around 40% of local primary schools. It aims to foster a fun-filled and relaxed atmosphere to learn English and support more students with English learning difficulties. Proposed initiatives include an English enrichment programme and a new screening tool for senior primary school students, Positive English Campaign and provision of parental support through schools, and an e-learning platform with innovative and gamified learning resources.