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EDUCATION
This development will be substantial and is likely to involve capital expenditure in excess of $1,000 million. When compared with the total of all capital grants to the two universities and the polytechnic since the UPGC came into being in 1966, namely $1,884 million at 1982 prices, the further expenditure now planned represents a major investment in the future of Hong Kong and its people. To ensure that the target of providing eight per cent of the 17-20 age group with degree places is sustained after the mid 1990s, the government is considering the requirement for a third university - with the capability to respond flexibly to changing requirements – as recommended by the UPGC. The UPGC believes that in the long term the major thrust should be through professional schools which include a strong research and postgraduate dimension and has made recommendations which are being considered by the government on major improvements in the funding and organisation of research necessary. This is essential, not only for the maintenance of a community from which Hong Kong will draw future generations of academics, but also to provide a base for practical or project research in commerce, industry and society.
For students denied the opportunity of full time degree level education immediately on leaving school, a part-time degree programme has started on a modest scale at the Chinese University of Hong Kong; the University of Hong Kong has made proposals, supported by the UPGC, for an external degree programme; and the government has asked the UPGC to examine the feasibility of an open university.
A more immediate problem in 1983 was the question of fees for Hong Kong students in Britain. Since 1981, the Hong Kong Government has provided means-tested loans for Hong Kong students on first degree or Higher National Diploma courses in the United Kingdom, the maximum loan being the difference between the home and the overseas fee. This scheme has now been modified by the Hong Kong and British governments, who have agreed to finance grants jointly to meet the fee differential. In 1983–4, grants totalling $26 million were made to 1 223 students.
University of Hong Kong
In its 73 years of existence, the University of Hong Kong has grown from modest beginnings to its present student population of nearly 7000. It has 'faculties of arts, dentistry, engineering, medicine, science and social sciences; and schools of architecture, education and law. The university's central estate is on the northwestern slopes of Hong Kong Island; the Faculty of Medicine is adjacent to Queen Mary Hospital, the university's teaching hospital; and the Faculty of Dentistry is located in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital in Western District.
All the faculties and schools, with the exception of education, teach both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The School of Education at present teaches only postgraduates, most of whom are preparing for the Certificate in Education. The medium of instruction throughout the university is English, except in the Department of Chinese. Most of the undergraduate courses are of three years duration and lead to honours degrees.
Close links are maintained with other universities through the Association of Common- wealth Universities and the Association of Southeast Asian Institutes of Higher Learning. The structure of the degrees and the governance of the university are based mainly on the British system and external examiners, generally from Britain, and who are eminent academics in their field, visit in each subject area at least once every three years and moderate each year's finals papers. Competition for places at the university is intense and in many cases there are five times the number of applications from qualified candidates as there are places available. Academic staff are recruited by international advertisement.