ENG-1993 — Page 172

EDUCATION

responsibility for reviewing their own courses. The council maintains a register of over 1000 local and overseas academics, and other experts, from which members of institutional review and validation teams are drawn.

Other activities are now taking on a larger role, including the provision of advice to the government and other bodies on the standards of overseas institutions and the status of their awards. To be able to give such advice, and to study and contribute to the develop- ment of quality assurance processes in higher education, the council makes and maintains contact with relevant organisations around the world. It has stimulated the creation of an international network of such bodies, for which it provides administrative and editorial support. The year saw significant growth in links with accreditation bodies in China.

During the year, advice was given to the Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications on the academic quality and professional relevance of teacher education qualifications; to the Provisional Governing Council of the Institute of Education on academic upgrading; and to professional bodies on accreditation procedures. Seminars and professional development workshops were held on quality assurance in higher education.

School Management Committees

Under the Education Ordinance, a non-government school is run by its own management committee. The committee employs staff, and is responsible for the proper education of the pupils and the operation of the school. One of the managers must be registered as the supervisor, whose main role is to be the point of contact between the management committee and the Education Department.

Each aided primary or secondary school is operated, under a letter of agreement, by its sponsoring body, which contributes the full cost of furnishing and equipping the premises, and nominates the first supervisor of the school. In September, a total of 840 schools were in the care of 377 sponsoring bodies, with a sponsoring body operating as many as 72 schools.

In September, the number of schools joining the School Management Initiative (SMI) rose to 127. The SMI started in 1991 as a scheme to give school management committees in the public sector more decision-making power and more flexibility in the use of resources, in return for more formal procedures for planning, implementing and evaluating their activities. During the year, the SMI Advisory Committee produced school administration manuals and other reference materials. A newsletter was sent regularly to school heads and teachers to keep them informed of developments in the SMI. An SMI exhibition in June attracted 1 500 visitors, and four regional exhibitions were subsequently organised.

Governing Bodies of Tertiary Institutions

Each tertiary institution has its own structure of governance, set out in its ordinance. In all cases, the structure includes a governing body (called the court, the council or the board of governors) and a body to regulate academic affairs (called the senate or the academic board). Some institutions operate under three bodies: a governing body, an executive body and a body dealing with academic affairs.

The Governor is empowered by the ordinances to appoint the chairman of each governing body, as well as a prescribed number of members. This ensures that the governing body has a balanced distribution of members from the industrial, commercial and academic fields.

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