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EDUCATION
Post-Secondary Education
Three approved post-secondary colleges - the Hong Kong Baptist College, the Hong Kong Shue Yan College and Lingnan College - are registered under the Post Secondary College Ordinance.
The Hong Kong Baptist College, registered in 1970, has four faculties - arts, business, social sciences and natural sciences and engineering - and has a total enrolment of 3 264 students.
The Hong Kong Shue Yan College, registered in 1976, consists of three faculties - arts, social sciences and commerce. The college has 11 departments offering day and evening courses with an enrolment of 3 381 students.
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Lingnan College, registered in October 1978, has three faculties arts, business and music and an enrolment of 898 students.
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A student loan scheme is available for eligible students at these approved post-secondary colleges. In addition, a student loan-and-grant scheme was introduced for eligible students at the Hong Kong Baptist College and Lingnan College in September 1980.
Government assistance to the Hong Kong Baptist College and Lingnan College was provided following their agreement to restructure their courses in line with proposals set out in the 1978 White Paper on the Development of Senior Secondary and Tertiary Education. The rates of assistance were revised during the year, following a salary increase in the aided secondary school sector.
A delegation from the United Kingdom Council for National Academic Awards visited Hong Kong in January and November, at the invitation of the Director of Education, to carry out independent assessments of the standards achieved in the restructured post-Form 6 courses at the Hong Kong Baptist College and Lingnan College. During the January visit, the delegation examined courses in business studies, natural sciences and engineering as well as the institutional administration of both colleges. In November, the Baptist College courses in the humanities and social sciences were examined.
In addition to the approved post-secondary colleges a number of private day and evening schools offer post-secondary courses of varying standards. They are registered under the Education Ordinance. None of these schools receives aid from the government.
Higher Education
The government attaches considerable importance to the development of university and polytechnic facilities. Education at this level is necessarily expensive and the government relies on the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC), appointed by the Governor, to provide impartial and expert advice on the level of financial support to be given to the three institutions from public funds, while preserving their autonomous position. While the institutions have some financial resources of their own, they are largely financed by the government.
In 1981, recurrent grants totalling almost $1,840 million were approved for the two universities and the polytechnic for the 1981-4 triennium. These grants do not allow for the development of the new medical school at the Chinese University of Hong Kong nor for the development of dental studies at the University of Hong Kong, these activities being funded for the time being under separate grants which, in the 1981–2 academic year, will total $63 million. In addition, considerable capital expenditure, of $190 million, is envisaged in 1981-2 and is forecast to continue at approximately this level up to 1986–7. The expenditure involved is designed to provide a student population of 11 620 at the two universities in 1983–4, and a full time equivalent of 12 000 at the Hong Kong Polytechnic,