ENG-1983 — Page 35

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EDUCATION AT THE CROSSROADS

The City Polytechnic of Hong Kong will be allocated a site of 12.2 hectares in Kowloon, advantageously situated 200 metres from the Mass Transit Railway/Kowloon Canton Railway interchange station at Kowloon Tong. The master plan allows for a two-stage development of the site. Phase I should be completed in 1988 to provide for up to 8 900 full-time equivalent students. Phase II can be put into force if it is decided eventually that the second target of 13 500 students should be achieved. The full development would cost $823 million at mid-1983 prices, of which $562 million will be required for Phase I.

One major recommendation of the Planning Committee is that the first courses of the City Polytechnic should begin in October 1984 in temporary accommodation, before the completion of the permanent campus. This is because the demand for technically trained and educated manpower, from both the public and private sectors in Hong Kong, is still exceeding supply and there is a pressing need to increase the supply speedily. Furthermore, it is necessary to build up the student body at a realistic annual rate of growth towards the target of 8 000 full-time equivalent students in the early 1990s.

To acquire this temporary accommodation, the Planning Committee has recommended that a conveniently located commercial building in the heart of Kowloon be purchased with a commercial bank loan. No decision has been made on choice of building, but the Planning Committee is optimistic that a suitable building can be found. Several banks are prepared to provide the necessary loan which is expected to be more than $250 million. The government has approved the financial implications of the start in 1984, including the annual financing charges to service the loan. The government will also make good any capital loss when the building is disposed of.

It is estimated that the 1984 start will produce, on a notional calculation, about 9 500 graduates at various levels between 1987 and 1990.

The City Polytechnic will eventually have six schools of study: engineering, architecture and building, computing studies, social work, business studies, and accountancy. The first enrolment in October 1984 will be about 700 full-time equivalent students on courses in business studies, accountancy, computing studies and social work which do not require major physical services. The City Polytechnic will concentrate on higher diploma and, to a lesser extent, degree courses which will ultimately make up 30 per cent of the total student population. A director has already been appointed and other senior administrative and academic staff are being recruited.

Baptist College Upgraded

Another notable development in the field of tertiary education is that the Baptist College, formerly an approved post-secondary college, has had its status upgraded to that of a publicly-funded institution of higher education, its funds coming from the UPGC.

The college has a Board of Governors, which is its governing body, and a council responsible for its management and made up chiefly of independently appointed members. This is in line with the other publicly-funded higher education institutions and this form of governance, with community interests predominating, is internationally accepted and recognised. The Baptist Convention, which founded the college some 27 years ago, is represented both on the Board of Governors and the council in recognition of its traditional link with the college. The Baptist College is a liberal arts college but with an orientation more towards preparation for local employment than post-graduate education. Although the college continues to provide sixth-form courses, these will be run down to allow post-advanced level courses to be developed up to a total student population of 3 000. In time it is expected that some of the courses will be at degree level.