Congratulatory Message by Chairman, UGC to the Awardees of the 2020 UGC Teaching Award
2020 UGC Teaching Award
Congratulatory Message by
Chairman, University Grants Committee
The UGC Teaching Award has always been our flagship annual event for recognising excellence in teaching and learning. Although we are adopting a new format for presenting the awards this year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the awards are as prestigious and significant as they had ever been over the past decade.
2. I am most delighted that the eight UGC-funded universities have continued to give overwhelming support to the Award by putting up top quality nominations for this honour. There were a total of 17 nominations from the universities and seven of them were shortlisted for selection interviews. All the finalists are outstanding teachers and I was advised that the Selection Panel had to make very tough choices. Three awardees were finally chosen by the Panel among a very strong pool of candidates from different areas with distinguished records. Let me extend my warmest congratulations to the awardees and they are: Professor Carmen Wong, Mr David Lee and the Inter-institutional Team for the AIE-AR Project led by Dr Eva Wong for their exemplary achievements. May I also congratulate The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Education University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University for having such high caliber faculty members who very much deserve the recognition and our admiration.
3. My heartfelt thanks must also go to all members of the Selection Panel for their unfailing dedication. Under the leadership of Professor Marilee Bresciani Ludvik of San Diego State University, the Selection Panel has overcome various difficulties in conducting the selection interviews this year amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. I am deeply indebted to them for their immense contributions to this rigorous and demanding selection process.
4. Apart from recognising those who excel in teaching in the UGC sector through the annual UGC Teaching Award, the UGC has spared no effort in supporting initiatives that promote teaching excellence. The funding for teaching accounts for up to three quarters of our Block Grant to universities every year, while we also offer additional funding of around $780 million for the 2019-22 triennium through the UGC Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant to support worthwhile initiatives. The UGC will remain fully committed to quality teaching and learning, which is also the common value shared by our UGC-funded universities.
5. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it necessary for us to make special arrangements for the UGC Teaching Award this year but we are determined that our tradition in recognising our best teachers should not be affected. From a wider perspective, I know the pandemic has posed unprecedented challenges to our universities when face-to-face teaching over the past few months were suspended. I am very much encouraged by the devotion and pursuit for quality in teaching of our university teachers whose willingness to adapt and innovate with the use of technologies in response to the difficult circumstances have been truly inspiring. With the gradual resumption of face-to-face teaching, I encourage all university teachers to continue with their quest for excellence, and achieve greater contributions to teaching and learning in the years to come.
6. Once again, may I congratulate the awardees this year for their achievements that we should all be proud of. We look forward to seeing everyone in person in next year's presentation ceremony for the UGC Teaching Award. Thank you.