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The Education Bureau (EDB) today (February 25) announced further details regarding a consensus reached with the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions that, for the purpose of satisfying the latter's entrance requirements, alternative Chinese Language qualification(s) under specified circumstances would be considered, in lieu of the general Chinese Language requirement for the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS) applicants seeking admission based on the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE).
The alternative qualification(s) in Chinese Language include those under the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), General Certificate in Education (GCE) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).
It was agreed earlier that JUPAS applicants meeting either one of the following specified circumstances would be eligible for the arrangements:
(a) The student has learned Chinese Language for less than six years while receiving primary and secondary education; or
(b) The student has learned Chinese Language for six years or more in schools, but has been taught an adapted and simpler Chinese Language curriculum not normally applicable to the majority of students in our local schools.
EDB today promulgated further details provided by individual institutions on the administration of this further flexibility, including the alternative Chinese Language qualifications to be accepted and the minimum gradings required, as well as any specific Chinese Language requirements of individual undergraduate programmes. The arrangements will take effect from the current JUPAS cycle, i.e. for admissions in 2008. They serve as another form of flexibility, in addition to existing arrangements for flexible application of the general Chinese Language requirement.
¡§The acceptance of alternative Chinese Language qualifications under JUPAS addresses the needs of students such as the non-Chinese speaking (NCS) students including ethnic minorities and the returnees who are studying in local schools and are prepared to learn Chinese Language for better integration into the education system and the wider community, yet may have genuine circumstantial difficulties meeting the general Chinese Language requirement based on the HKALE,¡¨ an EDB spokesman said.
¡§This is a significant step taken by the UGC-funded institutions and the Administration to address the aspirations among some of these students for pursuing higher education.¡¨
Applicants who have met the specified circumstances and applied to the current JUPAS cycle for admission in 2008 are reminded to update the relevant parts of their applications by including the alternative Chinese Language qualification(s) attained and to submit certified true copies of these certificates to the JUPAS Office on or before June 26, 2008.
For those who have attained the alternative Chinese Language qualifications but have not yet made any applications under the current cycle, the JUPAS Office is prepared to facilitate by allowing them to submit late applications on or before April 30, 2008.
Details of the requirements of individual institutions, including the alternative Chinese Language qualifications to be accepted and the minimum gradings required, as well as any specific Chinese Language requirements of individual undergraduate programmes are available at the EDB webpage at http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?nodeid=4211&langno=1 and will be available at the website of JUPAS at http://www.jupas.edu.hk.
Ends/Monday, February 25, 2008
Issued at HKT 18:45
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