Showcase: Student-led programme ChangeMakers help prepare less privileged students for the HKDSE exams
Nineteen-year-old Marcus Lo wanted to help underprivileged students with their studies
There are currently 40 mentees and 20 mentors.In need of support
The ChangeMakers Mentorship Programme is a student initiative to support less privileged students or students with academic difficulties, and help them prepare for the HKDSE through one-on-one peer-to-peer mentorship.
In the subject-based mentoring programme provided by DSE graduates from elite schools, participants would have access to various learning resources such as mock past papers from different schools, and be offered suggestions on how to improve their study skills and exam techniques. In addition, mentors would also support mentees by giving them advice on elective selection or withdrawal, time management for School-based Assessments, as well as the selection or modification of programmes choices on Joint University Programmes Admissions System.
ChangeMakers is supported by the Hong Kong Joint School Association of Students’ Union (JSASU).
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Seeing the problem
The programme was founded this year by Marcus Lo, a 19-year-old DSE graduate from Wah Yan College Hong Kong.“When I was preparing for my DSE, I was thinking what I should do with the big pile of books and notes after the exam,” Lo shared with Young Post.
Selling them was an option, but he wondered whether he could do something to help people in need. He was aware of the education inequality in our city, and noticed that students studying in elite schools are a lot more likely to secure a place in university on a government-funded undergraduate programme because they have more access to [various teaching] resources.
“I thought I should make good use of my social network to share the resources we have with students who don’t. That’s when I decided to initiate the programme after taking the DSE.”
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Students helping students
“For me this programme is not just about helping students to improve their weak subjects, it is an all-round initiative where we, the fresh DSE graduates, can take advantage of our experience and offer practical advice to problems that the entrants are confronting,” said one of the mentors Chloe Tang, 17, from St. Stephen’s Girls’ College.
Her mentee Sammi Ho, 15, agreed. “No one can understand the mentality [and struggles] of a DSE student better than those who have gone through the exam,” the Form Four student from Po Leung Kuk No. 1 W. H. Cheung College said.
“Schoolteachers might not be able to take care of the needs of every student in their class,” said another mentor Frederick Lam, 18. “When I have time, I would proofread my mentee’s [assignments and] essays … and show her strategies to score [well] in the exam,” added the Form Six graduate from Diocesan Boys’ School.
His mentee Sulli Lam, 17, said the programme is useful, especially as her school offers students few supplementary exercises. “I came to understand that hard workers who study the right way would be rewarded,” said the Form Five student from Ho Tung Secondary School.
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Who can be the mentors and mentees?
Form Four or Form Five students can apply as mentees, and select two subjects maximum as their preferences. Applicants should also explain why they’re interested, as well as the challenges facing them. Each mentee will be assigned a mentor, who would at most be working with three mentees at a time. Students are welcome to apply for this programme next year around May.
Check out @hkjsasu on Instagram for more details.
Future plans
Lo hopes the participants can find their inner drive and be their own agent of change after joining ChangeMakers, a platform where educational resources are shared, and their social circles expand. “I wish to attract more people to take part in our programme or be part of our team … [so] it could become a tradition, and benefit future generations,” he said.
Lo added that he would like to inspire secondary school students to start their own similar mentorship programmes in school and offer help to those in need.
Other than providing academic help, mentor Frederick Lam said he aspires to help boost his mentees’ self-confidence.
“From my experience as a volunteer teacher, I learnt that some students had never thought about pursuing university studies because they thought it wasn’t possible.” said Lam. “I’d like them to know that it’s not about whether they can, but whether they want to,” he added.
Edited by Nicole Moraleda