Inquisitive Minds: the program that aims to close two gaps with one stone.
By Jay Lee
Wealth. Education. These two factors trouble Hong Kongers because of how competitive Hong Kong students and the economy are. These factors have impacted families even more throughout this pandemic. Subsequently, the wealth and education gap has grown, but no one anticipated that what many students disliked could be a solution - online learning.
In January 2021, two students from the Chinese International School in Hong Kong named Zabrina Ho and Querida Lai, founded the Inquisitive Minds Program, aiming to close the educational gap in Hong Kong.
The program invited secondary students from local and international schools to serve as tutors and help local school students at primary or lower secondary level with educational troubles through online learning weekly.
‘More specifically, our student mentors provide the online lessons to underprivileged children, mainly in the Sham Shui Po area,’ Ho adds. These tutees were provided by the Society of Community Organization (SoCO).
After Year 12 student Michelle Wong entered the program as a tutor. She decided to develop her role by expanding the program and being one of the program leaders at RCHK. The program has another chapter in West Island School. This allowed RCHK secondary students to attest to the challenge of teaching instead of being on the learning side.
Some would be skeptical of this program due to our region's hundreds of other tutoring programs. However, the student tutors claimed that the program notably stood out from the rest due to a unique pairing system that allowed tutees with specific troubles to work with tutors with particular talents in subjects and choose their language learning method. Moreover, student tutors are permitted to teach through more unique and fun ways, making online learning a practical learning experience for tutees.
Despite Inquisitive Minds initially focusing on closing the education gap, it ultimately closed the wealth gap as the program did not require parents or students to pay and it saved families money for tutor lessons that cost ludicrous amounts. Additionally, tutors would not just be awarded a year-long service if they completed enough weekly sessions but also received a sense of accomplishment and the chance to develop their interpersonal skills.
‘I was able to interact with a student of a different background from me, and it was gratifying to know that what I taught creates a significant impact on her learning,’ Wong expressed.
Tin Ng, another leader of the program at RCHK, added that it allowed personal benefits to their learning. ‘Being a tutor, I have a taste of what it’s like teaching material as opposed to learning it. I even found myself learning terminologies that I thought were quite trivial and didn’t require much complexity,’ Ng said.
‘Sometimes, I realize I have been making grammatical errors in my work when preparing for lessons, so the program is an eye-opener for my learning also,’ stated another member.
Besides receiving a service, student tutors get the chance to improve their learning, develop interpersonal skills such as communication and time management skills, and have a more ‘appreciative’ perspective on how hard a teacher’s job can be.
Inquisitive Minds now has over 100 student mentors across many schools as of March 2022 and has expanded to sport and art in-person summer courses, along with bake sales, where proceeds are donated to SoCO.
As the program heads into its second year at RCHK, the leaders stated that it is going well as no complaints were made currently from both tutors and tutees. However, there will be a change in leadership in the next school year due to leaders heading into the final year of the Diploma programme. They hope the program will turn into a legacy project.