Students from privileged families in Hong Kong typically frequent tutorial centres for individualised learning and help with schoolwork. Many underprivileged children do not have this opportunity. Buddy Wiser seeks to redistribute the benefits of tutorial support to underprivileged students. The initiative aims for youth mentors to teach learning techniques to less well-off students, so they can study more productively and become independent lifelong learners. Buddy Wiser aspires to help underprivileged children with schoolwork and promote sustainable learning, by youth for youth. This summer, Buddy Wiser will run a pilot with a limited number of mentors and beneficiaries through Zoom.

The website of Better Wiser Foundation will allow potential students and their parents to find out more about Buddy Wiser. It will be in both English and Cantonese which are the two main languages of Hong Kong. Outreach will also include personal contacts, flyer distribution, among others. \\r\\n\\r\\nThe curriculum consists of five learning techniques which will be taught during the four week course. These five learning techniques were developed through a systematic review of relevant literature, ideas from peers and in-depth consultations with Mike. Students will learn Efficient Note-Taking, plan and follow a Study Timetable, try out Retrieval Practice, use Self-Explanation and Diagram Mapping to study concepts. One skill will be taught per week, with the use of PowerPoints and videos to supplement verbal teaching. Homework or exercises will be assigned so that students can try out the techniques they learnt in class. Follow up discussions with students will be held to ensure active participation and find out their thoughts about the effectiveness of the techniques taught. A quiz may be conducted at the end of the course to test students’ understanding of the study skills taught. Note taking in a journal or notebook will also be encouraged so that mentors can track the progress of students. It is important to help make the mentees feel that progress is made to keep retention rates high. Mentors will also follow up once a month with the students to check their academic progress in the 2020-21 academic year. \\r\\n\\r\\nDue to the coronavirus pandemic this year, we will be using Zoom to hold online classes with the students. There will be individual tutorials as well as small group classes. Classes will be held twice a week and each class will have a duration of 1 hour. Every child will be assigned to a teacher based on their chosen subject. The Zoom classes will allow students and mentors to interact virtually. \\r\\n\\r\\nThe dedicated and passionate mentors will share their learning techniques and studying tips with the children, and the best case studies will be collected and presented. Interaction will be encouraged and a friendly relationship will be built. Mentors may share their own experiences and past difficulties in learning with the children when conducting the lesson. It is hoped that the personalised help given to these children can motivate and inspire them to study more productively.

Course materials will be constantly updated and improved with feedback from the students and mentors. The learning techniques are currently aimed at lower secondary and upper primary students but they can be expanded to suit other age groups in the future. Extra studying skills can be put into the curriculum as time goes on. The syllabus may also be tailored to each student’s needs by focusing more on learning techniques that would be useful to them. The material will be published on the Buddy Wiser website for open use and new versions will be updated regularly.\\r\\n\\r\\nAs we are using Zoom as an online platform for classes, this allows for multiple classrooms and no limits on classroom size. Extra students can join Buddy Wiser without constraints in terms of space. Our goal is to recruit more students who want study skills at a younger age as our project grows. The website will serve the purpose of making Buddy Wiser more wide-reaching. We intend to continue working on this project in the future to reach out to more underprivileged students.\\r\\n\\r\\nThe course will be continuously enhanced with timely feedback from students and mentors to enable effective implementation. Mentors will have discussions after classes to share the good practices used as well as any challenges they faced. They will brainstorm ways of tackling the difficulties together and exchange teaching ideas.\\r\\n\\r\\nSurveys from both mentors and students will help with further enhancing Buddy Wiser during implementation. The evaluation of mentors and students allows the initiative to be improved in terms of areas such as curriculum, class size and logistics.

As the founder of Buddy Wiser Foundation, I have conceptualised the idea and coordinated the project. I was inspired to carry out this initiative to promote an inclusive society after attending the US-based Best Buddies Leadership Conference as one of the two Hong Kong representatives. Best Buddies is a non-profit organisation that helps people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The memorable sessions from speakers at the conference motivated me to want to make a positive impact in the society by helping those who are less fortunate. \\r\\n\\r\\nKenneth Kwok, a UNDP SDG Accelerator Labs Mentor provided the greater vision for this initiative while Mike Li from ITS Education Asia assisted with the day to day planning. With their insightful feedback, improvements were made to refine the project.\\r\\n\\r\\nThe mentoring team consists of devoted senior secondary school students who will be in charge of teaching the underprivileged children sourced locally in Hong Kong as an initial starting point. The core team of mentors will include Alison, Vivienne, Chloe and Hannah who are all motivated students from an English medium school. Alison’s leadership, Vivienne’s technological expertise, Chloe’s work ethic and Hannah’s artistic ability will complement each other. Mentors will undergo intensive training beforehand to familiarise themselves with the Buddy Wiser curriculum and ensure that they are able to mentor the children efficiently and effectively. It is envisioned that language barriers could occur and we will match students taking this into consideration. Their feedback will go back into updating and revising the Study Skills Manual and Powerpoints.\\r\\n\\r\\nLearners will be recruited through personal contacts and the distribution of flyers in partnership with local youth organisations. The website of Buddy Wiser will allow them to find out more details about the programme. Here, they can fill out a simple application form with their personal contact information. We will contact students or parents through email or WhatsApp in order to notify them of the dates and times of online lessons.

Global Citizen Capital, ITS Education Asia and Better Together Foundation