Mr. Tin Yau IP

In a manner of speaking, I represent a combination of Chinese and Western cultures, having received my primary education in Hong Kong and my secondary and tertiary education in the UK.

After obtaining my bachelor’s degree from Imperial College and teaching diploma from the University of Nottingham, I gained a teaching position in a grammar school for boys in North London. There I served for five years, before moving to an independent school for girls in South London. During my 7 years at the girls’ school, my role ranged from being a sixth form tutor to being an examination officer. In addition, I taught Mathematics to examination classes, including GCSE and A level classes.

My first post in Hong Kong was the Head of Mathematics in an international school. During my employment at this school I was promoted to Vice Principal and then Co-principal. My fourth school was an independent local school. I was the Principal of the secondary section. Throughout my stay at this school I was instrumental in developing the secondary school curriculum and helping the school obtain the authorization to implement the Diploma Programme of the International Baccalaureate.

Over the past decade or so, education worldwide has gone through a radical change, partly because of advancement in Information and Communication Technology, and partly because of globalization. Gone are the days when teachers were the sole authority in their fields in the classroom, from whom students gained all their facts. At the click of a button, students can now obtain a plethora of information on any topic in any subject. Today, we teachers have to be facilitators, stimulating students to think critically and guiding them in the right direction so that they can be more selective about the information available to them and turn it into knowledge.

In addition, we should be more than students’ guides in their pursuit of academic excellence. I hope that during their formative years we will be their role models and provide them with moral guidance so that they will make informed choices in life.

With my range of experience in various curricula, I hope to be able to contribute to HKUGA College. In particular, I envision a generation of youngsters who have benefitted from the best of Eastern and Western cultures, who are able to function competently in English and Chinese, who are mature and self-disciplined enough to strike a balance between leisure and work, and who will be assets to their community.