WHIle most students are celebrating their summer holidays by sleeping in, a group of 30 teenagers arrive at King George V School every morning to train to become student teachers.
Summerbridge Hong Kong (SBHK) is an English immersion programme which was established 15 years ago. It has more than 60 volunteer staff and offers eight weeks of classes for about 400 underprivileged local Form Two and Three students.
The student teachers arrive at the school at 7.45am and often don't leave until after 6pm when they go home to plan lessons for the next day. But despite the heavy workload the volunteers are passionate about the programme.
'Being a teacher is fulfilling,' said Joyce Au, 20, a former Summerbridge student who is dean of students at the King George V School site this summer.
'I feel proud when I see my students develop over the summer from being shy to confident individuals. It makes all the extra hours and late nights I put in worthwhile.'
The student teachers design their own course curriculum, which can vary from music and journalism to the human heart and social studies.