Student who dropped out of grammar school to pursue vocational education represents Hong Kong in ‘Skills Olympics’ held in Russia
- Ayza Lai dropped out of grammar school two years ago and enrolled in vocational course as he found traditional education difficult
- He is representing Hong Kong in the WorldSkills Competition, also hailed as ‘Skills Olympics’, held in Kazan, Russia
Many Hong Kong pupils begin preparing for the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam during the summer holidays after Form Four term ends – two years before they sit the city’s main university entrance exam.
However, Ayza Lai Chun-leung decided to make an unconventional choice around this time two years ago – dropping out of grammar school to pursue a diploma in vocational education at the Vocational Training Council’s Youth College in Kowloon Bay instead.
“My family, especially my sister, were initially against the decision, as she felt it was more important for me to finish secondary school first,” he says.
He eventually enrolled in a programme in print media, which included a course in photography, that appealed to him.
But Ayza, who began to struggle with his studies in Form Three, felt it was not for him to continue with traditional education. He discussed his concerns with his teacher, who suggested he should look for switching to the vocational track.
“I had just bought a second-hand film camera as I fell in love with photography after watching my sister take nice photos while on holidays,” he recalled. He also taught himself photography by watching YouTube videos.
Fast forward two years, Ayza, now 19, is representing Hong Kong to fight for glory in the WorldSkills competition in Kazan, Russia.
Dubbed the ‘Skills Olympics’, the biennial competition – running from last Thursday to Tuesday – is seeing a record participation with more than 1,300 competitors from 63 countries battling it out in 56 trades. Hong Kong has 24 representatives competing in 22 trades, including hairdressing, mobile robotics and welding.
Ayza’s trade – print media technology – involves handling printing equipment, custom colour mixing, and trimming and cutting printed products.
While the printing industry increasingly uses more digital technology, it still requires specialised knowledge with the use of complex equipment and techniques.
Ayza recalled how he had to redo a printing task as he applied too much ink and forgot one of the procedures in operating the machines. He said that it took him a lot of time to practise how to mix ink to the right shade.
But when he was able to produce the first product that got the stamp of approval from his instructor, he felt a sense of achievement.
Ayza, who won the Hong Kong selection test, took a semester off school to prepare for the Kazan competition. He also travelled to Heidelberg in Germany, known for its printing industry, and to Shanghai and Guangzhou to broaden his skills and meet industry experts.
“When I dropped out of secondary school, I was not happy as I was separated from my friends all of a sudden and had to join a new place,” he says.
But with the competition, he got his confidence back and earned the support of his family as well.
Ayza plans to do further studies in the field with a higher diploma. He said the experience in Kazan had so far been an eye-opener and he would try his best to win some prizes.
Similarly, Mark Ludovico Protusada, competing in the 3D digital game art trade, suffered a setback when he received his DSE exam results three years ago, failing in two electives.
But his parents did not give up and encouraged him to continue his studies.
He first enrolled in a foundation diploma programme in design. Then he went on to pursue a higher diploma programme in games and animation at the Institute of Vocational Education’s Lee Wai Lee campus in Tseung Kwan O, where he recently graduated.
Mark, who loves playing video games, said he became curious to know how the characters in these games were created.
Most see vocational training as inferior to university degree
He said the biggest challenge for him was time management as he had so many ideas.
But the 21-year-old, who also took part in competitions in Australia and China, said he was well prepared and hoped to get at least a medal for excellence.
Though exhausted, Mark said the experience had been fun and interesting.
The council’s chairman Roy Chung Chi-ping, who was also in Kazan to support the students, said he hoped they would be able to gain more experience and make new friends at the competition.
The results of the competition will be announced on Tuesday.
