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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Man-kwong and a written reply by the Secretary for the Civil Service, Miss Denise Yue (in the absence of the Secretary for Education), in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
Question:
The Report of the Phase Two Review of the Post Secondary Education Sector recommends "the development of more self-financing degree-awarding institutions and private universities in Hong Kong" and anticipates that "the proposal to extend the Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students to support sub-degree students articulating in self-financing degree programmes would stimulate the demand for and supply of locally-accredited degree (and top-up degree) programmes". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the details of each self-financing or top-up degree programme offered by each institution in the past three years (including the number of places, entry requirements, annual tuition fee, annual number of graduates and the name of the institution awarding the degree);
(b) whether it has set admission criteria for self-financing degree programmes offered by the University Grants Committee ("UGC")-funded institutions and private operators as well as for top-up degree programmes jointly offered by these institutions or operators and non-local institutions; if it has, of such criteria; if not, how the authorities ensure that the institutions only admit students who have attained a certain academic standard and will not admit students indiscriminately;
(c) whether, according to the Government's policy, the admission, teaching and learning as well as exit standards of self-financing or top-up degree programmes offered by UGC-funded institutions should be consistent with those of their publicly-funded degree programmes, i.e. attaining the prescribed academic standards and quality control; if so, of the relevant mechanism; if not, how the authorities ensure the quality of self-financing degree programmes and how the public can tell the difference between the two types of degrees awarded by the same institution;
(d) given that UGC-funded institutions have self-accrediting status, and therefore sub-degree programmes offered by their community colleges or continuing education arms are not required to undergo accreditation by external mechanism, whether it knows if the institutions have exercised quality control over the programmes offered and degrees awarded by their community colleges or continuing education arms; if they have, of the relevant mechanism; if not, the reasons for that;
(e) whether community colleges or continuing education arms of UGC-funded institutions are entitled to award local degrees; if so, of the reasons for that, and how the authorities ensure the quality of the degrees awarded by community colleges; if not, whether there is any difference, in terms of academic standards and recognition, between the degree obtained by taking a subvented programme offered by UGC-funded institutions and one operated by their community colleges, and how the authorities ensure that the overall standards and international rankings of UGC-funded institutions will not be adversely affected by awarding degrees to graduates of their community college programmes;
(f) what conditions community colleges of UGC-funded institutions and private operators must comply before they are allowed to become private universities; and what measures the Government has in place to ensure that these institutions have equal opportunities of development; and
(g) whether the institutions are allowed to redeploy resources provided by the Government for operating sub-degree programmes to develop self-financing degree programmes; if so, whether the relevant institution have to obtain prior approval and what the assessment criteria are; if approval is not required, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) As regards part (a) of the question, details of the full-time self-financing degree and top-up degree programmes offered by individual institutions in the past three years, compiled on the basis of information provided by the institutions, are set out at Annex.
(b) As regards part (b) of the question, before offering any self-financing degree programmes, a UGC-funded institution must ensure, through its internal accreditation mechanism, that the programmes offered meet the relevant criteria concerning their entry qualifications, quality and standards of teaching and learning. A local private operator, before offering such programmes, is required to have the programmes accredited by the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ). The accreditation exercise will cover entry qualifications, quality and standards of teaching and learning so as to ensure the quality and the standards of teaching and learning of the programmes.
As for top-up degree programmes jointly offered by the institutions and non-local operators, they are regulated under the Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance (Cap. 493) (the Ordinance), which provides for the registration of such programmes before they can be offered. Major registration criteria include the following:
(i) The awarding institution is a non-local institution recognised in the home country.
(ii) Effective measures are in place to ensure that the standard of the programme is maintained at a level comparable with a programme conducted in the home country leading to the same qualification and is recognised as such by that institution, the academic community in that country and the relevant accreditation authority in that country (if any).
The Ordinance also stipulates that non-local programmes conducted in collaboration with a specified local institution of higher education may be exempted from registration, but such exempted programmes are still required to meet the standard expected of registered programmes.
(c) As regards part (c) of the question, the UGC-funded institutions have self-accrediting (Note 1) status in respect of their degree and top-up degree programmes. All these programmes, be they publicly-funded or self-financing, are subject to the internal quality assurance process of the institutions concerned to ensure that the entry qualifications as well as the quality and standards of teaching and learning of the programmes meet the relevant requirements. Furthermore, the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) under the UGC, as a third-party, undertakes quality audits of the UGC-funded institutions to ensure the quality of teaching and learning of all their undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes (including UGC-funded and self-financing programmes).
(d) As regards part (d) of the question, post-secondary programmes offered by the community college or continuing education arm of a UGC-funded institution are subject to monitoring by the institution. Following vetting by the relevant academic committees of the community college or continuing education arm, these programmes will be submitted to the senate of the institution for approval. Members of the relevant academic committees under the community college or continuing education arm include the president/vice-president or other senior staff members of the institution concerned.
(e) As regards part (e) of the question, the community college or continuing education arm of a UGC-funded institution may not, on its own, award local degrees. Its self-financing degree or top-up degree programmes are, similar to those programmes offered by the institution proper, subject to the quality assurance mechanism laid down by the self-accrediting institution. Meanwhile, the scope of quality audit performed by the QAC covers all undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes (including self-financing ones) leading to qualifications awarded by the UGC-funded institutions.
(f) As regards part (f) of the question, under the existing legislation, any institution, except those established under their own ordinances (Note 2), which intends to award local degrees must register as a post-secondary college under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance (Cap. 320). Before registering under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance, the institution must be accredited by the HKCAAVQ. Areas covered in the accreditation process will include the institution¡¦s past performance, governance structure, academic standard and quality, teaching staff, quality assurance framework and financial position. Upon registration, a post- secondary college is required to seek approval from the Chief Executive in Council before awarding degrees.
A post-secondary college offering degree programmes may further apply to the HKCAAVQ for programme area accreditation (PAA) status in specific disciplines. PAA status is equivalent to self-accrediting status in a particular discipline of an institution. An institution with PAA status may run its own programmes and award qualifications in that discipline without submitting individual programmes to the HKCAAVQ for accreditation.
A post-secondary college which has successfully acquired PAA status may apply to the Chief Executive in Council through the Education Bureau if it wishes to register under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance under a name containing the word "university". In general, the HKCAAVQ will undertake an institutional review to assess whether the college has the proper academic and institutional structures in place which befit the status of a university. The Chief Executive in Council will consider each application on its merits and take into account relevant factors, including the internal governance, quality assurance framework and research capacity of the institution, before determining whether to allow the college to register under a name containing the word "university".
Generally speaking, in order to ensure the quality of universities, we believe that an institution needs to operate for at least one to two assessment cycles (Note3) after obtaining PAA status before it can provide sufficient information to support its application for registering under a name containing the word "university".
(g) As regards part (g) of the question, if an institution in receipt of government resources which are designated for its self-financing sub-degree programmes wishes to redeploy such resources for its self-financing degree programmes, it should apply to the Government for approval. Approval of the application depends, first of all, on whether the institution is qualified to operate degree programmes. Other considerations include the quality of the institution and its programmes, its long-term development plan and overall supporting measures, the needs of the local community and the development needs of the sector etc.
Note 1: The Hong Kong Institute of Education has self-accrediting status in respect of its teacher education programmes at degree and above levels.
Note 2: Currently, the institutions established under their own ordinances include the eight UGC-funded institutions, the Open University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts.
Note 3: Duration of an assessment cycle is generally four to five years.
Ends/Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Issued at HKT 15:16
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