A project designed to promote Chinese cultural traditions in primary and secondary schools in the Greater Bay Area and improve students' moral and affective, reading and recitation skills has been awarded a 100% research matching grant by the University Grants Committee (UGC).

The three-year Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area ‘Characteristic Affection, Classical Aspirations’ Teaching Development Research Project was launched in September 2023 by Dr Lai Chi-shing and his team in the Department of Chinese Language Studies (CHL) at the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK), thanks to funding of more than HK$2 million from the Tin Ka Ping Foundation. The project has recently been awarded the highest level of funding by the UGC for a research matching grant, with an initial allocation of HK$ 1 million.

Scholars specialising in Chinese language, students from the CHL and other teams of professionals are being invited to select 20 classical Chinese literary works from the primary and secondary school curriculum, with themes related to traditional Chinese values at personal, interpersonal, community, national and global levels. Teaching materials related to recitation skills and values will then be developed using these works. Students from the CHL are also involved in the project, creating videos related to the materials through role-playing and personal speeches.

The project team later plans to invite experts and scholars to publish books to increase the project’s impact. The content will cover various teaching methods for recitation, how to enhance modern moral and emotional education through the study of classical literature, and the relationship between the study of classical literature and national identity. Additionally, the team will organise competitions in the Greater Bay Area to promote learning and exchange.

The UGC’s HK$ 3 billion research matching grant programme commenced in August 2019, to provide more research funding sources for the higher education sector and encourage collaboration between the sector and industry.