appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

While most  students are looking forward to the summer break, 10 University of Hong Kong students are preparing to head to the Thai-Myanmar border.
There, they will spend seven weeks teaching English to Myanmese refugees and migrants as part of the university's global citizenship and civic engagement project.
HKU's dean of social sciences Ian Holliday  said the students, who will join others from the Hong Kong Institute of Education and British universities, would have the chance to learn about one of Asia's most troubled countries, build skills such as developing a curriculum for English learners of varying abilities, and experience other cultures.
Most of the Myanmese students will come from the  Karen minority.
From September, all HKU social science students will be required to complete an internship with an NGO  in Hong Kong or abroad as a condition of graduation.
'We want to create opportunities for our students to engage and get beyond the campus,' Professor Holliday said. 'We do think that it can open up an opportunity for people to see the possibilities that exist for them in the wider world.'
The programme is part of a growing trend for universities to encourage students to get more involved with community work.
Examples include students from City University's business faculty who have completed volunteer work in countries including Sri Lanka, India and the Philippines. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology's business school offers a credit-bearing elective which requires students to organise events to raise money for local charity, Po Leung Kuk.
Professor Holliday, who last week spoke to 40 Tin Shui Wai students on a campus visit, said while NGOs  and  businesses  had been co-operating for years, universities could play a greater role in engaging with the community.
'In terms of systematic links with the triangle effect, whereby you can tap into business plus NGOs and add in the university dimension, I think that's rather under-explored in Hong Kong at the moment.'



Summer break teaching English to refugees