TNAG-1855-FCO40-2630-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 56

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -15 March 1989

香港立法局

Address by Member

————一九八九年三月十五日

Hong Kong Baptist College Annual Report 1987-1988 with accounts for the year ended 30th June 1988

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MR. DAVID CHEUNG: Sir, tabled before this Council today is the audited statement of accounts and annual report of the activities of the Hong Kong Baptist College for the year 1987-88.

As a member of the college's Board of Governors and council independently appointed by the Governor, it is my pleasure to present this report to you and to highlight a number of the college's significant developments in the 1987-88 year. It also happened that I am also one of those in the very first group of graduates of the Hong Kong Baptist College, and have therefore been watching the college progress with interest for many, many years.

The year 1987-88 marked the second year in which the college admitted students to its bachelor degree programmes. In addition to the degree courses in Combined Sciences and Social Work launched in 1986-87, two new degree courses in Business Administration and in Communication - were offered. The year also saw the successful accreditation by the United Kingdom Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) of the fifth degree course, in Arts and Social Sciences, which won approval to commence in the 1988-89 academic year. Also accredited for a 1988-89 start were the conversion courses in Combined Sciences and Social Work which were aimed at providing opportunities for past graduates of the college to upgrade their academic qualification to that of a bachelor degree. Concurrently, preparation work for seeking UPGC's formal approval to offer a master's degree programme by research was already at an advanced stage.

The total student population expanded by about 9% to reach to total of 2 570. Applications for admission to all courses continued to outstrip the supply of places, with an average of 8.4 applicants competing for every place. For degree courses alone, the applicants-per-place ratio was 10 to 1.

The year's total recurrent budget, including public funding and tuition income, was $109.5 million an increase of 21% over that of last year. The bigger recurrent budget had made it possible to expand the academic staff establishment by about 10%, keeping the overall student-staff ratio at a favourable level of 12 to 1. Research output by staff continued to improve quantitatively and qualitatively. As a clear demonstration of the college's commitment to strengthening staff research, proceeds from private endowment funds were used to support research projects, in addition to research funds drawn