Hong Kong and Macao youths are fast enhancing their technological innovation skills, with students from the two special administrative regions winning awards at the third Mini Program Global Innovation Challenge.
The competition, which held its finals and awards ceremony in Shenzhen on Sunday, saw students from Hong Kong’s Po Leung Kuk No 1 WH Cheung College win first prize in the grade 8-12 students’ category for developing a WeChat mini program that aids the hearing-impaired.
Meanwhile, a student from Escola Choi Nong Chi Tai School in Macao also got the first prize in the grade 1-7 students’ category for developing a mini program that helps secondary school students study chemistry.
The competition, which was initiated by Chinese social media platform WeChat and other institutions, focuses on AI programming, targeting primary and secondary students from grade 1 to 12. It aims to stimulate global youths’ creativity through WeChat mini program development and unleash their potential in technological innovation.
This year’s competition received over 1,500 entries from seven regions worldwide, including Hong Kong, Macao, Guangdong and overseas.
Zhou Boyun, initiator of the competition, said the number of WeChat mini programs developed by youths has exceeded 100,000 as of this year.
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Xiong Zhang, chair of the judging panel and a professor from Beihang University, said AI education aims to create an educational ecosystem for the younger generation.
He called on teachers to better integrate classroom teaching with social practice to enhance students’ capabilities in innovation and creativity.
