15 Years Young - ITS Redefines Sustainable Education in the Greater Bay Area

    HONG KONG, January 06, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Since 2005, Hong Kong-based ITS Education Asia ("ITS") has provided a range of educational services for children - both those within traditional school systems and those excluded from them. ITS specializes in academic support, full-time schooling, globally recognized exams, admissions to desired target schools and colleges, and access to a wide range of enrichment programs. It is now recognized as a leader in Education for Sustainable Development in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area.

Alongside the main school, ITS Exam Services came to fruition to help local students gain access to international exams like the IGCSE, A-level, BMAT, and more. ITS Educational Services helps students with comprehensive placement services to international schools in Asia. In 2020, as a direct response to COVID-19, ITS launched its latest innovation - the Young Changemaker Incubator ("YCI") – an initiative of educators and various international experts to help students transcend the boundaries of the Hong Kong education ecosystem.

We know that even the best international curricula are not inclusive – many students struggle with adequate help – and often overlook personal development. Even the highest achieving students deal with terrible anxiety and stress. ITS has always searched for ways to help students excel, not only in traditional academics, but in ways that will make them purposeful young global citizens of the world.

In 2021, as part of our eternal campaign of self-renovation and improvement, ITS is primed to herald in the next educational paradigm in Hong Kong, one centered around global citizenship and sustainable action. To build the leaders of tomorrow, we cannot rely solely on the academic models of yesterday.

"2020 has highlighted the need for resilience to a generation of Hong Kong youth. Resilience through personal independence is at the core of all ITS programmes. As founder and group managing director of ITS, I hope 2021 will see us build, develop and strengthen this ethos as we support the young people of this region on their various journeys."

The YCI, with much credit to its irreplaceable partnership with the MXA Group, is the thought leader for sustainable action for youth in Hong Kong. We have happily spawned copycats salivating at the opportunity to cash in on a newly-conceived market. What our competitors fail to realize is that sustainable-action education is not just another product, it is a coordinated attempt to cultivate a new zeitgeist.

Faced with the emergence of such competition, we are ecstatic! We want to proliferate this sort of education and have no intent in keeping it from others - latecomers and bandwagoners are all always welcome. Because access to education is already baked into socio-economic status, ITS and the YCI applaud all attempts to provide sustainable-action education, even attempts from those with whom our financial interests may conflict. Conscious of financial barriers to education, the YCI is structured as Hong Kong's first intentionally-affordable membership program that swells the intersectionality of youth innovation and sustainability. The YCI Foundation will also offer a select number of scholarships for motivated students from less financially-advantaged backgrounds.

"Education empowers our own self-conception. What we are, what we can be, and what we can achieve are all undergirded by our knowledge. The founding ethos of the YCI is a fellowship of mentorship for students to meaningfully identify, pursue, and act on their curiosities in this world, especially in ways that our conscientious of those in our communities."

Purposeful deliberation, research, action, and delivery are at the heart of the YCI. As a pioneer for bespoke mentorship, the YCI helps students incubate sustainable action campaigns recognized internationally by organizations like the United Nations and World Economic Forum. YCI students gain accreditation by collaborating in youth communities and forums across SDSN Youth, WFUNA, UNITE 2030, SDG Academy, YOUNGA, and the Global Compact's Young SDG Innovators networks.

"To support Hong Kong youth become young global citizens in this new regional standard, the MXA Group has assembled a portfolio of for-profit and non-profit ventures such as Global Citizen Capital, Better Together Foundation, and KIDsforSDGs. Each of them brings international accreditation and exposure to international experts and resources, the necessary ingredients to transform a brilliant student into a young global changemaker!" Kenneth Kwok, Co-Founder of the MXA Group, a YCI founding partner.

Education revolving around the Sustainable Development Goals, aka Global Goals, is about to become a mainstay in the most progressive international schools in HK. It's only a matter of time before it becomes Hong Kong's regional standard. In 2020, conception became proof-of-concept. In 2021, the YCI will become a regional movement.

For students who seek to become the Founder and CEO of their own organization, whether it is for-profit, non-profit or hybrid, ITS also offers the YCI Executive. By invitation only, the YCI Executive program works with experts from the fields of investment banking, venture capital, big tech, life-sciences, management consultancy, media management, domestic NGOs, and more. ITS will help students start up and scale up their enterprises, while championing the SDGs on a regional or global scale.

Helping young adults earn a palpable sense of agency, regardless of their success or struggles in traditional academic models, is the fabric of ITS. In 2020, we wove together the YCI, and cemented our leading position in Asia for SDG Education 2030 with the #TurnItAround initiative of the UN SDG Action Campaign. And in 2021, just like a grandmother's quilt, we are excited for Hong Kong youth to each contribute their own patch - a mosaic of sustainable action that transforms our culture and brightens our future.

Authors:

Danny Harrington
Founder and Group Managing Director
ITS Education Asia

Michael Li
Founder of the YCI
ITS Education Asia

"ASCEND with the YCI"

More about ITS Education Asia

ITS provides a nurturing and stimulating learning environment whereby, through focused individual assistance from experienced tutors, students can achieve their maximum potential and achieve the academic grades necessary to pursue the future they aspire to.

We are dedicated to providing a consistent quality of education that cultivates and nurtures students' intellect at every stage of their academic lives, from the early years of school through to adulthood. Education and learning are broad and continual processes which are not vested purely within traditional forms and as such we happily tailor learning to the individual's needs whether academic or vocational.

At ITS, we are continually responsive to any changes in the dynamic educational environment around the world that may affect our students. Our schools, educational consultancy and schools placement services aim to support parents through the myriad of choices they face.

ITS endeavours to provide an international educational environment which is enjoyable and rewarding to both teach and learn in, the rewards of which are not confined within the school. As such, we believe strongly in contributing to our local community and ensuring that education is accessible to all in society.

We are committed to the focused enhancement of knowledge and skills that are integral to successful accomplishment in both school and society, providing students with a sound academic foundation that serves as a platform for further intellectual growth and in turn fostering a better future.

We embrace the latest pedagogical developments and appropriate technological developments to provide a 21st century education that is relevant to our learners particularly through the use of blended learning in a FLIP learning environment using the three pillars of our schools and teachers, our online platform and the educational community via the internet more widely.

# # #