ENG-2002 — Page 199

EDUCATION

The University Grants Committee (UGC) is appointed by the Chief Executive to advise on the development and funding of higher education and administer public grants to eight publicly funded higher education institutions. It comprises non-local academics, local academics and local professionals and businessmen. Civil servants staff its secretariat. The UGC was first established in 1965 to administer grants to the then two publicly funded universities, when there were only 4 000 full-time equivalent students.

The UGC also plays a major role in quality assurance and promotion of excellence. Major initiatives include the Teaching and Learning Quality Process Reviews (TLQPRs) and Areas of Excellence scheme. The former enhances institutions' awareness of the importance of teaching and learning quality, and the latter aims to identify existing areas of strength in the UGC-funded institutions and develop them further through the concentration of efforts and resources.

Hong Kong has 11 degree-awarding higher education institutions, eight of which are funded through the UGC. Seven of the eight are universities and the remaining one is a teacher education institution. Three other degree-awarding tertiary institutions are not funded by the UGC. They are the publicly funded Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the self-financing Open University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Shue Yan College.

Each of the eight higher education institutions funded through the UGC is an autonomous statutory body with its own ordinance and governing body. They are free to manage their own affairs within the parameters of the law. The eight institutions. have distinctive and complementary roles that reflect their varying origins, missions and the way they have responded to Hong Kong's complex and evolving needs.

Adult Education

The Government provides evening courses at primary to senior secondary levels for 11 170 adult learners in the 2002-03 school year. It also subvents a variety of adult education programmes operated by non-governmental organisations, offering a total of 26 730 places. In addition, the Government also provides other continuing education opportunities, including Project Yi Jin.

Project Yi Jin

The Government launched Project Yi Jin in October 2000 to provide an alternative route to expand the continuing education opportunities for secondary school leavers and adult learners. The programme aims to upgrade students' knowledge in biliteracy, trilingualism, information technology application through combining academic pursuits with practical skills training. Successful completion of the programme will lead to a qualification comparable to five passes in the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination for employment and continuing education purposes. The programme is run by member institutions of the Federation for Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions, and has both full-time and part-time modes. In the 2002-03 school year, about 3 500 full-time and part-time students enrolled in the programme.

Qualifications Framework

To facilitate the promotion of the manpower training market, the Government proposes to set up a qualifications framework (QF) and an associated quality assurance mechanism. The QF will be made up of a hierarchy of qualifications

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