APEC 2^nd Youth Festival

Singapore, August 2000

The selection of students and teachers to attend the APEC 2^nd Youth Festival was made in February 2000. The group will leave for Singapore on the 26^th July and return to New Zealand on 4^th August. The group was selected because they have shown to have a strong interest in Science and Technology and would like to pursue a career in these fields. Included activities organised at the festival are a Youth Science Summit, Science Investigations, Science and Technology Lectures, visit to the Singapore Science Centre, visiting Research and Development Institutes and the option to choose to stay with a family in Singapore for one day and evening.

Erin Van Ameringen ex Kerikeri High School Hwee Sin Chong ex Otago Girls High School Haydn Luckman, Auckland Grammar School Ruvan Mendis, Newlands College Olga Nikora, Christchurch Girls High School	1999 Genesis Energy National Science & Technology Fair Award Winners
Elene Ly, ex Morrinsville College Darryl Briggs, Morrinsville College Chloe Brayne, Rangi Ruru Girls High School	1999 Gold Crest Award Winners
Monique Baird, ex Sacred Heart Girls College, Hamilton Michele Princep	1999 Young Historian Award Winner Senior Lecturer in Chemistry. Waikato University

The New Zealand delegation arrived back from Singapore in Auckland on Friday. They had a marvelous time but were very tired. There were also long delays in Auckland because of fog and some participants had to wait up to another 5 hours before they could get back home.

The following article was received by the Royal Society of New Zealand from Ian Woon who attended the APEC 2^nd Youth Festival along with one other teacher, a scientist and 9 students.

The nine students who represented New Zealand at the Apec Youth Science Festival 2000 aquitted themselves brilliantly. Socially, their renditions of the Haka 'Kamate', 'Taku Poi', Stick game 'E Hine',and the National Anthem, interlaced with the Fred Dagg song 'Gumboots!' went down a treat. In an hilarious and memorable concert finale, featuring several encores, the kiwi group led 850 students in an exciting and boisterous rendition of our great Haka.

Within hours of landing it became obvious that sleep was not to feature highly on the tour groups schedule. A typical day would see our party rise at 6.00am for breakfast (not a highlight), board a bus at 7.10 to highly planned, thought provoking, and enjoyable educational forums which operated throughout the day, before returning to our base at 5.00pm. Dinner was available between 6.00 and 7.00pm.

Students soon discovered that the days enlightenment's were only the entree and appertiser, which preceded deadly serious group analyses of a current scientific issue ( eg disease ), which were to culminate in each groups presentation of their findings at the APEC SUMMIT planned for the penultimate day. Asian students, in particular were clearly acclimatised to working demanding hours, and managed to cajole the western students into working until the early hours of the morning, occasionally as late as 3.00am.

The standard of presentations, both visually and technically, were of an exceptionally high standard. Three of our students were chosen as presenters for their international groups and our management team were immensely proud of their high tech, scientifically accurate performances. All of our students made the most of their opportunities and contributed marvellously to their groups research and reporting.

Our whole group have been mightily impressed with a country that values Education as its number one commitment. Where highly educated and skilled people are seen as the countries greatest resource. An education system that: does not know what absenteeism means; provides every teacher with a laptop computer; provides a minimum of 100 hours of fully paid professional development per year for each educator; provides one laptop for every three students; and supplies data projectors and associated equipment for every classroom. Add to this, low tertiary fees and interest free loans, along with encouragement of innovation and entrepreneurial endeavours and you have a dynamic, cutting edge education system.

Ian Woon