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EDUCATION
The major event in higher education in 1984 was, however, the enrolment of the first 1 228 students (504 full-time and 724 part-time) in seven courses at the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong. The City Polytechnic is operating in an office block at Argyle Centre, purchased with a bank loan, pending the construction of its new campus in Kowloon Tong. The increasing size and complexity of the higher education system makes it all the more necessary that the system is co-ordinated to ensure efficiency and value for taxpayers' money, without impinging on the academic autonomy of the institutions. The UPGC expects to play an increasing role in examining issues such as whether certain disciplines should be provided only in some institutions or whether long-term demand is thought to be sufficiently strong to justify multiple provision of sometimes expensive courses, for example medicine. Another area potentially involving co-operation between institutions and correlation with community requirements is part-time or ‘open' education. The UPGC has made general recommendations to the government whereby the existing wide range of courses by subject, level and mode of attendance, at existing institutions might be expanded and co-ordinated.
University of Hong Kong
The University of Hong Kong was incorporated under a Hong Kong ordinance of 1911 to take over the work of the College of Medicine. In the 74 years of its existence, it has grown from modest beginnings to its present student population of over 7 000. 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.
There are nine faculties: arts, architecture, dentistry, education, engineering, law, medicine, science, and social sciences. Enrolment for Bachelor's degrees in March 1984 totalled 5 145, and at the undergraduate level almost the entire population are Hong Kong residents. Competition for places at the university is intense, and over 15 000 applications were received for the 1 618 first-year places available in September 1984.
All undergraduate courses are full-time and lead to honours degrees. They are of three years' duration except courses for the degrees of Bachelor of Architecture, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, and Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery, which are of five years' duration, and for the degree of Bachelor of Science (Quantity Surveying), which is of four years' duration. The medium of instruction throughout the university is English, except in the Department of Chinese.
All faculties, with the exception of the Faculty of Education, teach both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The Faculty of Education at present teaches only at post- graduate level and offers courses mainly leading to the Certificate in Education, and the Advanced Diploma in Education. The university offers, in all its faculties, facilities for both Master's and Doctor's degrees. Master's degrees by coursework are available in a number of subjects and the Master of Philosophy degree is awarded on the basis of research at Master's level. Doctorates are awarded on the basis of research. In March 1984, higher degree students numbered 913, and over 1000 students read for various diplomas and certificates.
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, who are eminent academics in their field, visit in each subject area at least once every three years and moderate each