“PolyU SPEED Work-Integrated Education & Summer Placement Programmes Gratitude Dinner 2016” concludes successfully 38 enterprises engage PolyU SPEED students to learn at workplace

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University-affiliated School of Professional Education and Executive Development (PolyU SPEED) held its “PolyU SPEED Work-Integrated Education & Summer Placement Programmes (WIE & SP Programmes) Gratitude Dinner 2016” on 28 October 2016. The event was joined by over 200 guests, College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) & PolyU SPEED students and staff

A total of 38 enterprises had pledged their support for the “PolyU SPEED WIE & SP Programmes 2016” with a sponsorship amounting to around HK$1.5 million. The sponsorship was used to offer scholarships and/or internship opportunities to about 180 PolyU SPEED students, benefiting more than 10% of the total student intake and spanning various disciplines of the School. Held mainly during each summer, the WIE & SP Programmes provided valuable opportunities for PolyU SPEED students to experience the real business operations, understand the job requirements, enhance their communication skills and competitiveness so that they can be well-equipped for the career market. With the guidance and support of the employers and PolyU SPEED lecturers, participating students could acquire valuable work experience. To express its sincere gratitude for the support of the employers and recognise students’ efforts, PolyU SPEED hosted a dinner to celebrate its fruitful collaboration with the employers.

Prof. Peter Yuen, Dean of CPCE, said in his welcome speech that many students take internship opportunities as one of the key considerations for institution selection. Prof. Yuen expressed his gratitude to the participating employers for providing the School and its students with valuable internship and/or scholarship opportunities. Dr Jack Lo, Director of PolyU SPEED, presented souvenirs and certificates of appreciation to the employer representatives during the dinner. Students who had accomplished the Programmes were presented with the scholarships by the employer representatives as a token of encouragement. The 38 enterprises which supported the PolyU SPEED WIE & SP Programmes or provided internship opportunities were listed below:

Mr Anders Yung, Assistant Programme Director of PolyU SPEED, invited three participating employers and their student interns to do a sharing session. The students shared their fond memories and learnings while the employers stated that they were satisfied with the performance of the students during the internship. According to the employers, the students were outspoken and showed remarkable flexibility in coping with actual situations. To show their appreciation to the employers, the participating students sang a song “Both Hands” together. The dinner came to a close with Dr Lo offering his words of advice to students that they have to keep equipping themselves to improve their lifetime employability. Once again, he expressed his deepest gratitude to all the employers of the “PolyU SPEED WIE & SP Programmes” and hoped that more internship opportunities could be provided by the employers to help students lay a solid foundation for future career development.