Yuen Long school advances K-12 'through train' with AI focus
Anchors Academy in Yuen Long is advancing its K-12 'through-train' curriculum with an artificial-intelligence focus. Executive director Carmen Choi Ka-man said early AI exposure builds problem-solving skills. The school has three AI-themed areas for different age groups and integrates AI, robotics a
Anchors Academy in Yuen Long is advancing its K-12 "through-train" curriculum, with executive director Carmen Choi Ka-man emphasising that early exposure to artificial intelligence is key to equipping students with critical problem-solving skills for the future.
The school set up three areas for ages one to five, six to 10 and 11 to 15, showcasing its Progressive AI Learning on its open day. These themes, Adventures to AI-land, Young Inventors & AI Creators Studio, and Tech Leaders & Future Solutions, for different age groups, along with AI, robotics, and STEAM elements, are already integrated into our daily curriculum.
"Starting with the kindergarten stage, the entire curriculum progresses from shallow to deep. The most important goals are to boost children's interest in learning and teach them how to solve problems," Choi said. For primary school education, Choi said the focus would be programming, which is knowledge that junior students are required to equip with and know how to practice.
"Many programming courses in the market simply train children to complete a task through coding, covering the entire process of planning, execution, and achieving results," Choi said. However, she said the core objective was to encourage students to think outside the box, use personal creativity to explore possibilities, and apply this to operation and combat, unleashing their STEM creativity, citing an open day activity where students used self-made combat vehicles.
Moving into the secondary school stage, the focus shifts to AI robotics. Pointing to the robots that danced fluidly during the open day, entirely relying on the operators' control skills, Choi described this as an essential skill for everyone in the future society. "We proactively let students understand what the future requires, what knowledge they should possess, and through what channels they can absorb it early. More importantly, they must learn to use tools to assist themselves," she said.
"This is not about the frequently discussed notion that 'AI will directly replace human jobs', though that may indeed happen in the future. When it comes to logical thinking or problem-solving, AI currently still relies on human observation, control, and judgment to determine the best direction," Choi added. When the new academic year began in September, Grades 7 through 9 of the junior secondary section at the Yuen Long campus commenced classes. Meanwhile, construction of the St Bees (Anchors) Sixth Form College in West Kowloon has started, which will offer senior secondary curricula.
Choi noted that the student body comprises local Hong Kong students, children from mainland cities such as Shanghai and Beijing, families arriving through the Top Talent Pass Scheme, and even students returning from overseas. The primary and secondary section will welcome their new principal, Michael Taylor, in November. With over 20 years of school leadership experience in Asia, Europe, and Australia, he possesses an international educational perspective. Choi said she is very much looking forward to working with Taylor on education.