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Education

Developing Hong Kong into a Regional Education Hub

The government has continued its efforts to internationalise and diversify the higher education sector to enhance Hong Kong's position as a regional education hub, nurturing talents to support the growth of the economy and strengthen Hong Kong's competitiveness.

Various internationalisation measures taken by the government since 2008 (including doubling the non-local student quotas of the publicly-funded programmes to 20 per cent, establishing scholarships for outstanding non-local students, and relaxing the immigration and employment requirements for non-local students) have begun to bear fruit. In the 2012-13 academic year, about 26,600 non-local students from more than 70 countries pursued post-secondary studies. in Hong Kong. Moreover, there were over 4,600 incoming exchange students at University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions in Hong Kong, and a similar number of local students of UGC-funded institutions were on exchange studies abroad, meaning that about one in four Hong Kong undergraduates had the opportunity to join an exchange programme.

Other measures to be implemented in early 2014 include extending student exchanges to sub- degree programmes and aligning the length of stay of non-local students to the normal duration of their study programmes. The government has worked with post-secondary education institutions to step up efforts to encourage more non-local students to choose Hong Kong as a preferred place for education. The UGC has launched new initiatives to promote internationalisation, including funding student-initiated projects that encourage multi-cultural integration.

As of September 2013, there were 50 international schools, including 15 schools (one of which is a special school) operated by the English Schools Foundation, providing around 39,700 places. These schools offer different non-local curricula, including those of the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Korea, Singapore, the USA and others such as the International Baccalaureate programme. Four greenfield sites and seven vacant school premises have been allocated for international school development since 2007.

Development of Self-financing Post-secondary Education

The government promotes the sustainable development of the self-financing post-secondary sector through a basket of support measures, including providing land and premises at nominal premium and rent, interest-free start-up loans, the Self-financing Post-secondary Education Fund, student finance and quality assurance subsidies.

As at the end of 2013, $7 billion of start-up loans to post-secondary institutions out of the total $9 billion commitment had been approved. An additional $20 million was injected into the Self- financing Post-secondary Education Fund in 2013 to set up scholarships for post-secondary students with special educational needs. In addition, grants totalling more than $73 million from the fund were approved for 11 projects in the first round of applications for the new Quality Enhancement Support Scheme in 2013.

Student Achievements

Hong Kong students excelled in international competitions in 2013. Hong Kong teams won a total of five gold, nine silver and nine bronze medals in the International Mathematical

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