EDUCATION
are emphasised, minor programmes become optional and degree examinations are replaced by course examinations with the external examiner system retained.
In 1990-91, the university offered full-time undergraduate students 33 major sub- jects and 31 minor subjects through its 49 departments grouped under five faculties, namely, Arts, Business Administration, Science, Social Science and Medicine. The first four faculties offer four-year programmes, leading to Bachelor's degrees. The Faculty of Medicine runs a five-year programme with two years of pre-clinical studies and three years of clinical studies. Clinical teaching is conducted mainly in the university's teaching hospital – the Prince of Wales Hospital in Sha Tin. The degrees of MB ChB conferred by the university are recognised by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom and the Medical Council of Hong Kong for the purposes of provisional and full registration of medical practitioners. An intercalated degree programme in medical sciences has been introduced in 1989-90 to give those medical students who have an affinity for medical research the opportunity to develop that interest. The university emphasises bilingualism. Students have to be proficient in both Chinese and English on admission.
At postgraduate level, there are 63 academic and professional programmes leading to the degrees of Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Science, Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Phil- osophy, Master of Business Administration, Master of Social Work, Master of Divinity, Master of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Arts in Education, Master of Education and Master of Social Science, as well as diplomas in Education and Social Work.
Part-time degree programmes leading to Bachelor's degrees in Biology and Chemistry, Business Administration, Chinese and English, Mathematics and Statistics, Music, Phys- ical Education, Primary Education and Social Work, and Master's degrees in Translation, Chinese Language and Literature, Business Administration, Clinical Biochemistry, and Social Work as well as professional diplomas in both Education and Social Work are offered to working adults.
Expansion in the fields of Education, Medicine, Engineering and Computer Science is expected in the coming years. Plans are also in hand to establish Architecture, Japanese Studies, Nursing and Pharmacy Studies in the near future.
The university is strongly committed to research and related academic activities. In addition to research work conducted in the teaching departments, a number of research institutes have been established to co-ordinate research work in selected areas. Besides the Research Institutes of Chinese Studies, Social Studies and Science and Technology, there is the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology. In 1988-9 the university took over the Universities Service Centre which provides office accommodation, library facilities and professional assistance to scholars conducting studies on contemporary China. The Asia- Pacific Institute of Business was established in 1990 to promote and facilitate interaction among academics and between the academics and business community. The Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies, also established in the same year, in place of the In- stitute of Social Studies, is aimed at promoting multi-disciplinary social science research on social, political and economic development in Hong Kong and the region.
Competition for university places is intense. Of the 23 000 candidates who sat the various public examinations held in 1990, approximately 1820 were admitted to first-year studies. Enrolment as of September 1990 totalled 9237, comprising 6675 full-time and 912 part- time undergraduate students and 480 full-time and 1 170 part-time postgraduate students. Almost all students are local, and about half are given hostel places.
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