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Following is the full text of the speech by the Chief Executive, Mr Tung Chee Hwa, on "Global Tertiary Education Development" at the Opening Ceremony of the Vice-Chancellors and Presidents Forum this (Monday) morning:
Professor Yang, Dr Wei, Dr Lee, ladies and gentlemen and friends,
I am very honoured to have the opportunity to address such a distinguished audience of university presidents, vice-chancellors and accomplished scholars from around the world. I must congratulate the Association of University Presidents of China on its achievements since its establishment in 1997. It is the first association of its kind, and it will be a strong force for enhancing academic cooperation between Hong Kong and the Mainland and between China and the world. I also applaud the Association for organising this meaningful event which draws together so many top brains from around the world. The synergy it generates will point the way for the development of the global tertiary education sector into the next century.
Today, whilst innovation and technology are the driving force of the world and fuel its engine, it is the people that make the engines work. We wish to see in our younger generation an all-round development covering ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics. We wish to see in our younger generation the ability to assimilate modern technology and ideas. We wish to see in our younger generation creativity, critical thinking and a global outlook. We wish to see in our younger generation a strength of character, a spirit of enterprise, the desire for continuous improvement and the versatility to cope with the changing needs of our community. And we wish to see in our younger generation a sense of responsibility towards one's own family, one's own community, one's own country and indeed the world.
In Hong Kong we strongly believe education enables us to cultivate these noble qualities in our next generation. Education also creates and expands the pool of talents to maintain Hong Kong's economic development and international competitiveness. That is why education is always one of our top priorities and continues to be the single biggest item of the Government's budget, accounting for 19% of our total public recurrent expenditure. Despite the economic downturn, public expenditure on education will have about 8% growth in real terms in 1999-2000.
Our best universities are among the top ten in the region, and our best students are among the best in the world. However, the success of Hong Kong lies in our flexibility to respond to changes and our determination for improvement. We have to inject new life into the whole education sector. To achieve this, we are undergoing major reforms in our education system, our examination system, our education regulators, our schools, our teachers and, above all, our attitude towards education.
Education is a continuum. The inputs into the tertiary sector are the outputs from the school sector. We hope that several years down the road, the tertiary sector is able to reap the benefits from our reforms in the basic education sector which we are now embarking on. But universities cannot simply wait. They have to ensure that their current outputs, that is, their graduates and their research work, meet the aspirations of the community.
Hong Kong has been, and will continue to be, a place that treasures and respects institutional autonomy and academic freedom. We believe that only with unfettered autonomy will universities be able to live up to our expectation to advance the frontier of human knowledge and to serve as the society's pioneers, leaders, and builders. We also believe that academic freedom is to be encouraged as a precursor of industrial, business and community success. But the community is, quite rightly, placing a lot of expectations on our universities. In particular, we see a number of new challenges facing our universities.
First, universities operate in an international context. Whilst the codification and transmission of existing knowledge could be, though not satisfactorily, done locally, the creation of new knowledge is wholly dependent on an awareness of what is happening globally. Indeed, globalisation already exists in a more concrete form. With the advent of information technology, an increasing number of universities are offering web-based programmes on a trans-national basis. The boundaries between distance learning and the conventional universities have become blurred. The need to have some quality assurance mechanism not just at the national level but the international level is more urgent than ever.
There is also greater scope for inter-institutional collaboration at the international level to capitalise on the comparative advantages of individual countries and universities, and to share good practices. I understand that our universities have a large number of initiatives that promotes collaboration with their counterparts overseas as well as on the Mainland. The number of exchange students and academics is also on the rise. We must ensure that our universities will maintain a maximum outward-looking attitude and respond to these new challenges. I am particularly pleased, therefore, to see that this Vice-Chancellors and Presidents Forum is being held in Hong Kong and that the topic of discussion is on Global Tertiary Education Development.
Second, there has always been a symbiotic relationship between the universities and the business world. The business world looks to the institutions to produce graduates with "employable skills". More importantly, as higher education is no longer regarded as a "once and for all time" experience, the business world also needs the nourishment from the institutions on a recurring basis. Conversely, the institutions need business inputs to stay away from the ivory tower. The curriculum and the staff must be alive to the changing operating environment in the business world. The synergy between the academia and the business sector is vital to support the existence and the prosperity of both sectors. This is especially important as Hong Kong pushes forward in the development of high-value added industries.
Third, we also look to the universities to cultivate our younger generation to be independent thinkers who are self-motivated, dynamic, knowledgeable with a global outlook, a strong sense of responsibility and leadership qualities. These may be demanding goals but are in no way unachievable if we have the will and the heart to do it.
Whilst Hong Kong and the whole of Asia are still struggling on the road to recovery, we firmly believe that opportunities before us are limitless. And success will go to those who can grasp these opportunities. As the Chief Executive of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, I pledge, once again, to ensure that the government will be a progressive instrument determined to give our people the tools they need to make the best of their own lives in the next millennium.
I am sure your meetings will be an ideal forum to stimulate thought and share experiences on some of these very important issues. I wish you all a fruitful forum, and to our guests, a most enjoyable stay here in Hong Kong.
Thank you very much.
END/Monday, April 19, 1999
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