EDUCATION
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universities, with wide knowledge and experience in their fields, are appointed as mem- bers. Liaison and joint consultative committees have been formed with the Education Department, aimed at achieving co-ordination between developments of the poly- technic and the technical institutes. Regular contact with the two local universities continued during the year. Apart from being members of the polytechnic advisory committees, professors and senior academic staff of the two universities serve as external examiners of the polytechnic in the same way as polytechnic staff members serve on the examination subject committees of the two universities.
Members of the polytechnic staff also are engaged in consultancy and investiga- tional work for commerce and industry. A handbook entitled Polytechnic Services to the Community, giving details of the expertise and facilities available and the type of consultancy services offered by the polytechnic, is published regularly by the Poly- technic Standing Committee on Consultancy and Investigational Work. Members of the polytechnic are also actively engaged in research work and technology transfer.
The University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 with a land grant from the government and endowments that have since been increased. Substantial government grants also are made towards the university's annual recurrent and non-recurrent expenditure.
Numbers of undergraduate places in the various faculties in 1978-9 were: arts, 938; science, 581; medicine, 750; engineering, 725; architecture, 239; social sciences, 676; and law, 157. Of these, a total of 1,345 places were available for first-year stu- dents. There also were 670 places for post-graduate students - 400 reading for higher degrees and 370 for diplomas and certificates. In the Language Centre, 10 students were reading for the Certificate in Chinese Language. The number of full-time teaching posts - including demonstratorships - at the beginning of the academic year was 592. All the degrees and other professional qualifications conferred by the university are equivalent to those of universities in Britain.
The University of Hong Kong conducts its own advanced level examination, the standard of which is similar to that of the General Certificate of Education advanced level. Entry to the university generally depends on successful results in this examina- tion. Some 5,514 students met the minimum entry requirements in 1978.
The School of Education offers graduates a two-year part-time curriculum leading to the Certificate in Education. Also offered is the Advanced Diploma in Education, a prerequisite for admission to the curriculum leading to the Master of Education degree in the following year. The degrees of Master and Doctor of Philosophy in Education are available for specially-qualified and selected candidates.
In addition, the university confers higher degrees, diplomas and certificates on suit- able candidates for their research or for successful completion of a prescribed curric- ulum in other disciplines. These include degrees of Masters of Philosophy in Arts, Science, Medicine, Engineering, Social Sciences, Architecture and Law, and the degrees of Masters of Arts, Science in Engineering, Social Sciences, Social Work, Business Administration, Medical Sciences and Surgery. Doctorial degrees awarded are in the spheres of Philosophy, Medicine, Surgery, Letters, Science, Social Sciences and Law. Certificates are obtainable at post-graduate level in the fields of law,