ENG-1988 — Page 163

EDUCATION

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Provisional Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (PHKCAA) was set up in November 1987, to prepare for the establishment of a Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (HKCAA). When established as an independent statutory body the HKCAA will assume the responsibilities, now undertaken by the UK Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA), for validating degree course proposals from Hong Kong's non-university institutions of higher education.

Membership of the provisional council includes five overseas academics, five academics from the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong and five non-academics drawn from the industrial, commercial and professional sectors of Hong Kong. The provisional council meets twice a year in Hong Kong and will be submitting a progress report to the government by mid-1989. In this past year, the provisional council has understudied the work of the CNAA, and has refined the role and functions of the future council to ensure that it will be sufficiently flexible to meet the changing needs of Hong Kong and its non-university degree awarding institutions. The provisional council has also forged useful links with similar accrediting bodies overseas, particularly in North America where a four-member delegation of the provisional council exchanged information with representa- tives of these organisations during a visit in May. Preparatory work has progressed well, and the provisional council is confident that the future council will be able to assume full responsibilities for validation and accreditation in Hong Kong.

Open Education

Following the appointment of a Planning Committee in January 1988, steady progress has been made in the setting up of an Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong (OLI).

The director of the OLI was selected towards the end of the year after an extensive search locally and overseas and the recruitment of other academic and administrative staff is actively underway. Agreement was reached with the government for the allocation of five floors at Argyle Centre Tower II in Mong Kok to house the headquarters of the new institute. Academic planning is well advanced and undergraduate and other programmes in science, business studies and arts are expected to be offered in 1989. Agreement has also been reached with government on funding the OLI over the next few years.

Draft legislation for the new institute is expected to be considered by the Legislative Council early in 1989. The OLI itself is expected to be formally established around April 1989, to allow the target date of student admission by September 1989 to be met.

The OLI will offer a second chance for those who have been unable to go on to further education after leaving school, as well as opportunities for workers and managers to update their qualifications and skills and for personal development.

Student Finance

Full-time students attending the local tertiary institutions are eligible, on the basis of need, for grants to cover their faculty expenses, tuition fees and Student Union fees, and for loans to meet their living expenses. This scheme is means-tested and is administered by the Student Finance Section, Education and Manpower Branch, Government Secretariat. Loans provided with effect from the 1987-8 academic year are subject to an interest charge of 2.5 per cent a year which will begin to accrue upon the student's graduation. During the year 8 178 students received loans totalling $73.3 million and 6 784 of these students also received grants, totalling $35.5 million.

Also administered by the Student Finance Section is a joint-funding arrangement between the governments of the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Under the terms of the