Research update (January)
Thomas Benson, Researcher of Welcoming Committee for Hong Kongers
This January, WC4HK held a second round of forums dedicated to issues in employment and education for Hong Kongers. Each forum was attended by a broad range of stakeholders, from Strategic Migration Partnerships to education charities and Welcoming organisations.
The employment forum on 12th January was titled Filling skill and labour gaps in the UK and examined how the existing skillsets of Hong Kongers could be better utilised by UK employers. The forum featured presentations by guest speakers Caroline Waterfield (NHS Employers) and Alex Mak (Hongkongers in Britain), who discussed obstacles that BN(O) visa holders might face in the healthcare field and in obtaining funding for apprenticeships/adult education.
The education forum on 17th January was titled Addressing information gaps between BN(O) Parents and UK Schools and focused on how to inform Hong Kong parents about the practices and curricula of the UK school system. With presentations from Willow Hewitt and Ceri Moss (Seven Springs Education), Kathryn Kashyap (Achieving for Children), and Rachel Coker (SESPM), stakeholders discussed ways in which the allocation of teaching materials, resources, and information for BN(O) parents could be coordinated across different local authorities.
We would like to express our gratitude to the attendees for contributing to the discussions, and we are expecting to be inspired by them again at the forum meetings in March!
Previous updates:
In work and at school in the UK - findings from WC4HK’s recent network meetings on employment and education