Celebrating Chinese culture and heritage through student creativity
Pearson's Young Cultural Ambassador Awards encourage national pride through creative expression
The Young Cultural Ambassador Awards (YCAA) is a flagship student awards programme for primary schools in Hong Kong and Macao. It provides a platform for students to creatively celebrate their Chinese heritage. By showcasing student work, the Awards help young learners build confidence, spark creativity and deepen cultural awareness – qualities that will serve them throughout their education and beyond.
Industry: Education Location: Hong Kong and Macao SARs Solution: PLET2E and PLE3E
Challenge
Building children's pride in their heritage
Primary schools in Hong Kong and Macao strive to foster pride in Chinese heritage, yet teachers need engaging, curriculum‑friendly approaches to make it real for students. The challenge is turning heritage into lived experience by giving students chances to research, create and present, building confidence, creativity and stronger school‑community connections.
Solution
Awards that reward and celebrate creativity and self-expression
The YCAA provides a practical way to bring Chinese heritage to life through creative expression. Open to all primary schools in Hong Kong and Macao, the programme invites students to celebrate their heritage and national pride through storytelling, cultural ambassador projects and presentation. It gives students a platform to explore their roots, share their work and inspire their peers.
Results
Strong engagement among students and teachers
The Awards have become a platform for primary schools to celebrate Chinese heritage and national pride through creative expression. Since its inception, the programme has received 10,739 submissions from 144 schools across Hong Kong and Macao, reflecting strong engagement among students and teachers. The Awards recognise outstanding work and showcase cultural ambassadorship in the two SARs.
10,739
accumulated video submissions
144
schools participated across Hong Kong and Macao
6
winning schools celebrated in 2025–2026
The YCAA has turned the challenge of presenting in English into motivation: students were excited to take the lead in their research, their English has noticeably improved, and the younger ones work closely with their parents—a great bonding experience.
Sunnie Yeong, Teacher, Seac Pai Van Official School
For two years running, our school has participated in the Young Cultural Ambassador Awards. The programme inspires students to explore Chinese culture from diverse perspectives and shows how students’ presentations and efforts bring cultural pride to life.
Adam Gibbins, English Panel Teacher, Chi Hong Primary School
This is our second year participating in the event. By integrating activity worksheets into daily homework, we saw both students and parents participate enthusiastically, adding creative touches to videos that brought Chinese culture to life. The results speak for themselves.
Cecilia Lao Un Tong, English Panel Teacher, Santa Rosa de Lima English Secondary School, Macau
Students enjoyed creating English-language video presentations to tell stories about Chinese culture. I was impressed by their creativity, and the event was truly rewarding.
Ma Pui Shan, English Department Panel Head, Pui Kiu Primary School
