Over 25,000 Hong Kong primary students may have secured a Guinness World Record by singing English folk songs at schools on the same day. While the feat is certainly a Hong Kong record, an application for the world record is under way.

Entitled "Little School Bags - Folk Songs Sing Along", the event is part of the "English Festival 2006" organised by the Standing Committee on Language Education & Research.

Students sang the song "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing" at their own schools today.

Witnessing the singing at one of the participating schools, standing committee member Tony Choi encouraged students to learn English by singing and listening to folk songs more.

"To extend the spirit of this activity, a teaching kit on English folk songs has been prepared for teachers participating in the mass singing today for their future reference in using English folk songs to teach the language at school," he said.

Free copies of the teaching kit are now available for other teachers or parents on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, call 3527 0178 from May 16 to June 20.