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The following is issued on behalf of the Womenˇ¦s Commission:
The debate team of the Heep Yunn School and the United Debate Team won the championship in the secondary division and tertiary division respectively in the grand final of the Debate Competition on Gender Issues for Secondary and Tertiary Students today (November 28).
The motion for the secondary division was "There are adequate opportunities for women to participate in politics in Hong Kong" while that for the tertiary division was "Hong Kong is a gender-equal city".
The Debate Competition was organised by the Women's Commission, with a total of 83 teams participating. The chairperson of the commission, Ms Sophia Kao, said she was pleased with the enthusiastic participation. The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, presented awards to the winners.
Ms Kao said, "We attach great importance to cultivating the concept of gender equality among students. The competition aims to stimulate secondary and tertiary students to visit various social issues from different perspectives and incorporate a gender perspective in the process.
"In the debate, students on both sides put forward abundant information and arguments that illustrate that Hong Kong has indeed attained gender equality in many aspects. But at the same time, there is also evidence to suggest that there are still constraints in certain aspects hindering the development of women."
Ms Kao said that one of the major tasks of the commission was to enhance community awareness and stimulate public discussion on gender-related issues, eliminate public misconceptions on gender bias and gender stereotyping, as well as promote gender equality through public education and publicity.
The commission believes the competition will help enhance students' understanding of gender issues and change gender stereotyping in the community. Ms Kao thanked the participating schools, adjudicators and students for their support.
The adjudicators for the grand final included Ms Sophia Kao; Deputy Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Miss Eliza Lee; Legislative Council member, Ms Starry Lee Wai-king;ˇ@Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Professional and Continuing Education of the Open University of Hong Kong, Professor Lui Yu-hon; and experienced radio programme host, Mr Francis Mak.
Ends/Friday, November 28, 2008
Issued at HKT 19:57
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