The Acting Commissioner for Census and Statistics, Mr Tim Chau, officiated at the prize presentation ceremony of the 2024/25 Statistical Project Competition (SPC) for Secondary School Students of the Hong Kong Statistical Society today (June 21). Principal Assistant Secretary for Education Ms Edith Tse also attended as an officiating guest. The President of the Hong Kong Statistical Society, Professor Chan Ngai-hang; the Chief Adjudicator of the competition, Professor Cheung Ka-chun; the Chief Strategy Officer of Hang Seng Indexes Company Limited (sponsor of the competition), Ms Candy Lam; representative of the Department of Decision Analytics and Operations of the City University of Hong Kong (sponsor of the thematic prize), Ms Teresa Ng; and representative of the Division of Science, Engineering and Health Studies of the College of Professional and Continuing Education of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (sponsor of the thematic prize), Dr Anthony Loh, also presented prizes to the winning teams and extended their congratulations to every member of the teams.
In his address at the prize presentation ceremony, Mr Chau emphasised that it is even more important for students to learn how to discern the reliability of statistical figures in today’s era of information explosion. Statistical knowledge not only helps students interpret data but also enables them to identify potential biases and misleading information within the data. He pointed out that quality statistical results are usually based on scientific statistical theories and methods, as well as logical analysis. He encouraged students to contribute to society by fully utilising their statistical knowledge as a valuable technical resource, and by harnessing their analytical capabilities and creative thinking.
This edition of the competition received an encouraging response of 221 statistical projects from about 850 secondary school students, covering a broad spectrum of topics. Participating students were able to utilise official statistics as the main source of data to analyse and interpret social and economic issues in Hong Kong.
The 2024/25 SPC, co-organised by the Hong Kong Statistical Society and the Education Bureau, is the 39th edition of the competition. The Commissioner for Census and Statistics is the patron of the competition. Over the past years, many statistician-grade staff members of the Census and Statistics Department (C&SD) have actively participated in the organisation and professional adjudication of the SPC in the capacity of members of the Hong Kong Statistical Society, with the aim of improving statistical literacy among secondary school students and promoting the application and importance of statistics in society. This fully demonstrates that the C&SD attaches great importance and commitment to nurturing young talent.
The key objectives of the competition are to promote the interest of secondary school students in research methods, statistics and statistical techniques; encourage students to understand the local community in a scientific and objective manner through the proper use of statistics; and promote a sense of civic awareness.
Members of the public are welcome to visit the webpage of the competition for the list of winners this year (www.hkss.org.hk/index.php/spc$en).
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