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EDUCATION

volumes mainly in the scientific, engineering and business areas. Facilities are provided for disabled students.

Staff are encouraged to offer their services to commerce and industry as consultants within their fields of expertise, and are also actively engaged in research work of direct relevance to Hong Kong. Most research projects receive grants from the Polytechnic Research Committee which is responsible for overall research policies and utilisation of research funds, while other research projects receive funding and assistance from commerce and industry, and from the government.

Since 1981, the polytechnic has been discontinuing its diploma and certificate level work as corresponding courses are added to the programmes of the technical institutes. Together with the development of degree programmes, this reflects the polytechnic's move towards a greater proportion of higher level academic work, which requires increased and higher level research activities.

City Polytechnic of Hong Kong

In October, the City Polytechnic opened its doors to its first students: almost 500 full-time and over 700 part-time students registered for courses offered by the Departments of Accountancy, Business and Management Studies, Computing Studies, and Social Administration at professional diploma, higher diploma or diploma level. The number of applications received (over 12 000) exceeded all expectations and confirmed the need for establishing the polytechnic.

The polytechnic has begun its courses in Tower II of the Argyle Centre, which was purchased in January 1984 with the aid of bank loans of $260 million. This building will house the polytechnic until 1988-9 when it is expected that the permanent campus in Kowloon Tong will be ready for phased occupation. By then, it is expected that the polytechnic will have grown to 2 500 full-time students and a similar number of part-time students. Clearance of the site has been completed. It is anticipated that the buildings will begin to take shape in 1986. The ordinance establishing the polytechnic was enacted in November 1983, and the polytechnic formally came into being on January 1, 1984. By that time the first group of 16 senior staff was already in post, and the Planning Committee for the polytechnic was appointed en bloc to be the first Council of the new institution. This has helped continuity during the transition from concept to substance and has ensured that the philosophy evolved by the Planning Committee has been followed faithfully. The recruit- ment of staff continued apace as the opening date drew nearer, by which time 90 academic staff and 120 support staff were in post. Staff have been recruited not only from Hong Kong, but also from the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and India, and include persons born in Hong Kong working overseas.

Hong Kong Baptist College

The Hong Kong Baptist College, founded 28 years earlier by the Baptist Convention of Hong Kong (known then as the United Hong Kong Christian Baptist Churches Association) reached a milestone in 1984: the college was operating its first full year as a self-governing publicly funded institution of higher education with its own ordinance. Since November 1983, the college has been officially taken into the ambit of the UPGC through which it receives government financial support for its academic programme. In the course of the year, the college has also discussed with the UPGC various academic development proposals including the time scale for the mounting of degree courses.

Concurrent with the Hong Kong Baptist College Ordinance coming into effect on January 1, 1984, both statutory governing bodies of the college - the Board of Governors