When Helen Ng was at primary school in Hong Kong in the early 1990s, she remembers spending a lot of time sitting in rows, quietly listening to the teacher, and completing worksheets.
'When my family moved to Canada and I started attending fourth grade [Primary Five], I was very happy to be introduced to the concept of playtime,' says Ng, who moved back to Hong Kong last year to work in education.
Now the Education Bureau is rewarding teachers who use 'playtime' to encourage pupils to develop a love for learning.
'There's nothing children like to do more than play,' said Alice Yeung Ho-man, one of 54 teachers who will receive a Chief Executive Award for Teaching Excellence today.
In a typical morning in Yeung's classroom, children race around obstacle courses, tumble into ball pens in search of 'chicken eggs' and act out parts of a storybook.
'I hope winning this award will give our school a chance to help the public understand that playing is an important part of teaching children a broad range of skills,' said Yeung.
Another award recipient, information technology instructor Li Chi-shing, combines technology and playtime to teach older children.