LCQ18: Provision of education services on the Mainland by tertiary institutions funded by the University Grants Committee
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     Following is a question by the Hon Ip Kin-yuen and a written reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):

Question:

     In its report entitled Aspiration for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong published in 2010, the University Grants Committee (UGC) stated that it encouraged local universities to pursue actively the development of distance learning, or collaboration in joint or double degrees, and in a measured way other forms of delivery of educational provision on the Mainland. UGC pointed out, however, that the institutions must balance the need to maintain standards in Hong Kong with the desire to expand their network on the Mainland. In recent years, tertiary institutions funded by UGC (UGC-funded institutions) have established joint-venture or wholly-owned satellite campuses, research institutes, as well as other academic institutions and programmes (educational institutions and programmes) on the Mainland. In April this year, it was reported that some staff members of the research institute established by The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shenzhen were found to have allegedly embezzled funds of the institute, but the management did not report to the Council of the University until two years after the incident. Some members of the public are concerned whether the provision of educational and research services on the Mainland by various UGC-funded institutions has been developing too fast, and whether a proper regulatory mechanism is lacking. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

(1) whether the various UGC-funded institutions are required to report to UGC on the establishment of educational institutions and programmes on the Mainland; if so, (i) the respective names of the educational institutions and programmes as well as other affiliated institutions established and to be established on the Mainland by the various UGC-funded institutions, and (ii) the respective expenditure and revenue of the educational institutions and programmes established by various UGC-funded institutions on the Mainland in the past five years; if not, the reasons for that;

(2) whether various UGC-funded institutions have drawn up guidelines or codes of practice for the establishment of educational institutions and programmes on the Mainland: if they have, the details; if not; the reasons for that; and

(3) the respective laws and requirements in Hong Kong and on the Mainland that regulate the establishment of educational institutions and programmes by UGC-funded institutions on the Mainland?

Reply:

President,

(1) All institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) are autonomous bodies established pursuant to their own Ordinances, and each has a council to serve as governing body. All UGC-funded institutions enjoy a high degree of autonomy in academic development and administration. They may decide on their own to conduct self-financing activities, including the setting up of self-administered or jointly-run establishments and programmes outside Hong Kong, without having to seek approval from or report the details to UGC. That said, each institution should be mindful of the interests of the students and the public and be held accountable for its decisions. Institutions should ensure that the self-financing activities do not detract from their core work in Hong Kong and have distinct separation of resources from the publicly-funded activities, and that they are financially viable and sustainable.

     In response to Hon Ip's question, UGC has approached all UGC-funded institutions. According to the information received, three institutions have set up educational establishments jointly with Mainland organisations, with two of them already providing courses. Besides, six institutions have established either research institutes or other subsidiaries for research, technology development and consultancy services on the Mainland.

     Funded institutions are not required to report to UGC on the respective expenditure and revenue in relation to their educational establishments and programmes on the Mainland as these are self-financing operations. While upholding the spirit of institutional autonomy, UGC expects institutions to remain committed to transparency and accountability in their operations to ensure that the funds are put to appropriate uses. UGC-funded institutions are required to keep separate financial accounts for their publicly-funded and self-financing operations to ensure that there is no cross-subsidisation of UGC resources to self-financing activities.

(2) According to information provided by funded institutions, they have their own policies, internal mechanisms and regulations for handling matters relating to the setting up of educational establishments and programmes on the Mainland. In general, an institution should follow the established procedures and seek internal approval prior to setting up any educational establishment or offering any programme. An educational establishment so founded is an independent legal entity on the Mainland. It operates according to its articles of association/constitution and has a board/council as governing body. To ensure good governance, the institution will appoint members from, for instance, its management, to serve on the board/council as its representatives. The Mainland establishment is required to make regular reports to the institution to ensure its effective management and operation. Moreover, regulations and procedures have been drawn up to administer issues, e.g. personnel and financial matters, related to the daily management and operation of the Mainland establishment.

     Funded institutions have to ensure that all programmes (whether funded by UGC or not) they offer have successfully gone through their internal quality assurance mechanism. It is also an obligation of each institution to ensure that the quality and academic standard of academic programmes offered outside Hong Kong leading to an award of qualifications are on par with those of the programmes offered in Hong Kong by the same institution. Also, audits conducted by the Quality Assurance Council under UGC also cover programmes offered outside Hong Kong with qualifications to be awarded by the institution alone or jointly with another party upon completion.

(3) As mentioned above, being autonomous statutory bodies, funded institutions can decide on their own to set up self-administered or jointly-run establishments and programmes outside Hong Kong, but they must ensure distinct separation of resources from the publicly-funded activities in Hong Kong. Moreover, to set up educational establishments and offer programmes on the Mainland, funded institutions are subject to the relevant laws and regulations of the Mainland in various domains. In general, institutions providing education on a collaborative basis on the Mainland are subject to the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Chinese-foreign Cooperative Education and the Implementation Measures for the Regulation of the People's Republic of China on Chinese-foreign Cooperative Education.

Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Issued at HKT 15:19

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