The HKFYG releases survey results on “Secondary School Career Guidance Teachers’ Attitudes Towards Green Employment Education”
Summary:
- As Hong Kong advances towards its 2050 carbon neutrality goals, developing green skills in the next generation and building a robust talent pipeline have become essential priorities.
- The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) today (5 June) releases the results of a new survey on secondary school teachers’ attitudes towards green employment education, conducted by its Youth Employment Network and Youth Research Centre.
- 103 secondary school teachers involved with career guidance and life planning participated in the survey through an online questionnaire carried out from February to March 2025.
- The survey aims to examine teachers’ understanding and attitudes about green employment, as well as the related pedagogical challenges.
Key findings:
- Nearly half (48.5%) of teachers agree that green employment is a future career trend for young people; about 80% agree that both teachers (78.6%) and students (81.6%) need to be equipped with such knowledge.
- However, nearly half (48.6%) of them have “never” or “rarely” discussed green employment topics in class, while 39.8% and 5.8% “sometimes” and “frequently” do so, respectively.
- This may be attributed to a lack of familiarity and understanding. Over half (51.5%) of teachers report being “unfamiliar” with green employment; more than three-quarters (77.7%) have never received any related training.
- Nearly one-third (32.1%) of teachers believe that students will encounter challenges when learning about green employment, with the major challenges being “teachers’ unfamiliarity with green topics” (53.9%) and “insufficient resources from the government” (46.1%).
- Though nearly half (47.6%) of teachers have never organised green employment-related activities, most agree that “company visits” (81.6%), “internships/work experience” (65.0%) and “workshops” (45.6%) are the most effective learning activities for their students.
Recommendations:
- Having hosted over 70 green employment talks over the past two years, the HKFYG Youth Employment Network has noticed that secondary school teachers and students have a limited understanding of green employment issues. This, in turn, has affected their academic decisions and career choices, accounting for Hong Kong’s green skills gap.
- To prepare students for future careers, schools need to shift their perspectives beyond traditional 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) principles towards more innovative approaches.
- Speaking on behalf of the Network, Gary Tang, Coordinator of the HKFYG, recommends that “green employment education” be implemented in secondary schools, encompassing school talks and workshops for junior secondary students, and job shadowing and industry visits for senior secondary students.