**********************************************************
The Permanent Secretary for Education, Mr Raymond H C Wong, will be visiting India tomorrow (November 22) to enhance Hong Kong's position as a regional education hub and foster collaboration in education and research.
Mr Wong will lead a higher education delegation comprising academics from local higher education institutions.
The visit aims to showcase Hong Kong as a regional education hub with an internationalised and diversified higher education sector, to develop broader and deeper collaboration with India, and to promote the New Academic Structure (NAS), including the international recognition of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) and its smooth articulation with overseas education systems.
Mr Wong and the delegates will first stop in New Delhi on November 22 where they will visit the Delhi Public School, RK Puram; and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi which is committed to augmenting technical education and encouraging research activities.
Mr Wong will also call on the Minister of Human Resource Development, India, Mr Kapil Sibal, to enhance education and research collaboration between Hong Kong and India.
On November 23, the delegation will visit the University of Delhi and have a meeting with senior management of the university.
In the evening, Mr Wong will speak at the grand opening of the University of Hong Kong's India Office, the first such overseas office established by Hong Kong universities. He will also deliver opening remarks at the reception on "Higher Education of Hong Kong".
Mr Wong will conclude his tour in New Delhi by visiting the Shri Ram School, a co-educational private school providing diverse education programmes, on November 24.
On their second leg of the visit, the delegation will depart for Bangalore and visit the International School Bangalore, a co-educational boarding school with students coming from over 30 countries, on November 25. In the afternoon, they will visit the Bangalore University which is renowned as one of the leading universities in India.
On November 26, the delegates will tour the Trio World School, an international school with outstanding musical tradition; and the Mallya Aditi International School, a private school with 550 students of 16 nationalities. They will return to Hong Kong on November 27.
Accompanying Mr Wong will be the Deputy Secretary for Education, Dr Catherine K K Chan, and representatives from eight local higher education institutions: the City University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Baptist University, the Lingnan University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong.
Ends/Sunday, November 21, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:32
NNNN
