Service-Learning Nurtures Civically Engaged Global Talent

This summer, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's (PolyU) signature service-learning and leadership programme “Habitat Green in East Africa” successfully concluded in Rwanda after a two-week service-learning project. Steered by the Service-Learning and Leadership Office (SLLO) in collaboration with the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Department of Computing, the programme focuses on rural electrification and was made possible by a delegation of over 100 members, comprising of PolyU students participating in the service-learning subjects, their teachers, visiting students from the University Social Responsibility Network (USRN), and students and teachers from Hong Kong secondary schools participating in a capacity-building project on service-learning. By 3 August 2023 (GMT+2), they successfully installed about 400 solar generation systems across six villages in the Rwamagana District of Rwanda's Eastern Province, bringing basic electrical power to 400 impoverished families in the mountainous areas.

Rwanda is a landlocked nation in east-central Africa where some regions are still plagued by a lack of access to electricity. With the exception of one year during the pandemic-induced hiatus of 2020-22, PolyU staff and students have been visiting Rwanda every year since 2013 to deliver service. In 2015, a small scale project to install solar power systems was launched to respond to basic needs of the community that our teams witnessed during their previous service-learning projects. Through collaboration between students and local residents, the goal is to offer a reliable and sustainable basic electricity supply. Since the first year, when 44 simple systems were installed, the project has grown larger in scale, complexity and impact.

“As we enter the 10th year of the programme, our service-learning project has established over 1,200 solar power systems, providing sustainable energy to impoverished families deprived of electricity in remote mountainous areas, and significantly improving their lives. We have also set up a solar-powered TV system and an educational intranet to enable better access to information, improve basic education and connect residents to the world," said Dr Grace Ngai, Head of PolyU's Service-Learning and Leadership Office at the kick-off ceremony of The Habitat Green Social Innovation Expo held at Cenetra Hotel in Kigali.

Combining community service with academic study and reflection, service-learning has been a signature component of the PolyU undergraduate curriculum since 2012. It brings an invaluable learning experience for students outside the regular classroom. At the closing event, the Chinese ambassador to Rwanda Mr Wang Xuekun highly praised PolyU's service-learning programme. Mr Wang said the project in Rwanda allowed teachers and students from PolyU and selected secondary schools as well as Mainland and overseas exchange students to apply what they had learned in Rwanda's remote mountainous areas. It also forges closer ties between peoples, a key Silk Road spirit embodied in the Belt and Road initiative, and reflects the caring spirit of PolyU students and their sense of duty, and the innovative spirit of our youth.

Having made service-learning a mandatory requirement of the four-year undergraduate programs w.e.f. the 2012/13 academic year, PolyU spares no effort to refine our service-learning programs and promotes research on the pedagogy and practices of service-learning. Service- learning facilitates student learning and fosters civic responsibility. As the first university in Hong Kong to make academic service-learning a core part of its undergraduate curriculum, we engage students in delivering service to the community through an experiential teaching model , which fosters learning and self reflection. Since the launch of the programme, students have participated in a diversity of service-learning projects in Hong Kong, Mainland China and overseas. Building upon PolyU's broad spectrum of disciplines, the projects span a wide variety of areas, including STEM education, healthcare, technology education and development, sustainable community initiatives, as well as child and youth development. This wide choice of subject matter leverages on the expertise and interests of different students to address critical community needs. The programme has engaged over 37,900 PolyU students to date, clocking up over 1.51 million hours of service to the community.

Going forward, PolyU will continue to advance meaningful service-learning projects, and enhance our students' learning with global citizenship and cross-cultural competencies through a massive expansion of our non-local service-learning programme. By encouraging the application of professional knowledge and skills, we aim to nurture civic-minded talents with a global perspective. By delivering service to those in need, the students are able to play a part in improving life for underserved communities, bring a positive change to the world, and truly live out the PolyU motto: “To learn and apply, for the benefit of humanity”.