Educational programs to unleash youngsters’ cognitive abilities and equip them for the rise of AI and digital transformation were successfully held during the SCMUN five-day camp, top educationalists said at the opening ceremony of a global Model UN conference, held earlier this month.

Students from more than 70 secondary schools, mostly from the city but also from the Greater Bay Area and as far away as the United States and the United Kingdom, filed into the classrooms of the City University of Hong Kong on Aug 10 to attend the much-anticipated conference — the last leg of their seven-day learning expedition, which kicked off on Aug 5.

The third SCMUN, co-organized by See Change Education, Hong Kong Innovative Education Association, and the City University of Hong Kong, aims to nurture the next generation of diplomatic leaders, ensuring the students are equipped with data literacy skills, interpersonal acumen, and an international perspective.

This year’s program featured a newly launched Global Conference Leadership Camp and thematic simulations across five committees – including the United Nations Security Council, the Special Political and Decolonization Committee (SPECPOL), the World Health Organization, the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development, and the African Union.

Describing the program as particularly demanding but a “worthwhile investment” in future success, Lester Garson Huang, SBS, JP, chairman of the Council of City University of Hong Kong, said at the conference’s opening ceremony that the program focuses on equipping young people with critical skills for the future, with reference to the top 10 future skills for 2027 identified by World Economic Forum.

The emphasis on communication and data literacy is geared toward the nation’s resolution to cultivate highly skilled and versatile digital talent, as stipulated in a guideline released by the Cyberspace Administration of China and three other departments in February.

“In the leadership camp, we developed our data literacy by learning a lot about data storytelling and discernment techniques, which is especially crucial when doing the background research and drafting our resolution,” said Kola Zaynab, a secondary school student from HKFYG Lee Shau Kee College, whose contributions to the African Union won her the Best Speech Award in the program.

Champion of the Junior Secondary School Category of the 2024 21st Century Cup English Public Speaking Competition (Hong Kong), Zaynab, as a well-versed orator, also highlighted the need to develop rhetorical skills for public speaking.

This was echoed by Lew Ching Nam from ELCHK Lutheran Academy, champion of the Senior Secondary School Category in the same competition, who chaired this year’s SPECPOL, and who added that social and communication competencies are key.

According to Rita Pang, founder and convener of the SCMUN, the program is designed to give students a solid foundation in international communication skills and to encourage their participation in, and understanding of, global affairs. Such skills are especially beneficial to students from Hong Kong, which is a melting pot of cultures with substantial international connections, and a channel of connectivity between the Chinese mainland and the world.

Winners and nominees from SCMUN will continue on their path to the Model UN, held at the University of Oxford and Harvard University.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com