ENG-1993 — Page 188

EDUCATION

congregation in October, 66 postgraduate students received the first degrees conferred by the university.

The Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong was established in 1989 to provide adults with more opportunities for higher education through open access and distance learning courses. At its first graduation ceremony in November, 161 graduates received Bachelor's degrees. In October, about 15 000 students were enrolled in degree courses in three schools: science and technology, arts and social sciences, and business and administration. The Centre for Continuing and Community Education began offering sub-degree and short courses early in 1993, and 2 400 students enrolled for such courses during the year. The new School of Education plans to launch a Bachelor of Education degree programme for serving primary school teachers, in association with two other local tertiary institutions. The institute is financially self-supporting but, during the year, the government provided a one-off grant of $150 million towards the cost of building a new campus, and another $100 million for course development. Construction of the institute's permanent headquarters in Ho Man Tin began in October.

Lingnan College was founded in 1967 to continue the tradition of Lingnan University. The college was put under the aegis of the UPGC in 1991, and was incorporated as a degree-awarding institution under its own ordinance in 1992. It has three faculties arts, business, and social sciences and a general education division. In October, enrolment was 1 718 full-time students, of whom 853 were pursuing honours degree studies and 865 were honours diploma students. Enrolment is planned to increase to 1 900 by 1994. The college is expected to be relocated at a new campus in Tuen Mun by 1995.

Each institution publishes detailed information about admission criteria, courses, staff and other matters in its annual report, calendar and prospectus, obtainable through the institution's information office.

Post-Secondary Colleges

Shue Yan College, registered in 1976 under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance, operates a four-year diploma programme. Its faculties of arts, social sciences and commerce include 13 departments, which offer day and evening courses to 2 787 students. The college receives no public funding, but its students may apply for government grants and loans.

Adult Education

Many formal and informal opportunities are available for adults to study in their spare time, either for personal development or to update knowledge and skills relevant to their work. Numerous private schools offer language, business and computer courses. The British Council, Alliance Française, Goethe Institute and Japanese Consulate all offer language courses.

All tertiary institutions, except the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Lingnan College, operate extra-mural departments or divisions of continuing education. They offer a large variety of courses, some at degree level, in such areas as languages, translation, business management and professional development for teachers, social workers and others.

The Education Department provides courses of second chance education for adults at primary and secondary level, and courses of personal development at post-secondary level.

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