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Education

Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) Ordinance provides for the establishment, functions and management of the council, which is responsible for quality assurance of the qualifications recognised under the QF

Governance of Post-secondary Institutions

All UGC-funded institutions, the Open University of Hong Kong and the HKAPA are statutory bodies governed by their own ordinances. Approved post-secondary colleges are governed by the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance. Each post-secondary institution has its own structure of governance, normally including a governing body, called the council or board of governors, and a body to regulate academic affairs, called the senate or the academic board.

Quality Assurance of Higher and Further Education

There are three quality assurance bodies in Hong Kong to monitor the quality of the post- secondary education sector. The HKCAAVQ is a statutory body responsible for the quality assurance of all operators and programmes except the UGC-funded institutions which enjoy self-accrediting status. The Quality Assurance Council (QAC), a semi-autonomous non-statutory body under the aegis of the UGC, conducts quality audits of the UGC-funded institutions and programmes offered at degree level and above, however funded. The Joint Quality Review Committee (JQRC), established by the Heads of Universities Committees, provides peer review of the quality assurance processes of self-financing sub-degree programmes offered by the UGC-funded institutions.

The government collaborates with the HKCAAVQ, JQRC and QAC through the Liaison Committee on Quality Assurance to identify ways to enhance and rationalise the quality assurance required for the self-financing post-secondary regime, so as to provide a stronger platform for the sector's continuous development. The government plans to implement periodic external quality audits on sub-degree operations of UGC-funded institutions.

Management of Schools

School-based Management

Aided schools are devolved with considerable autonomy and funding flexibility to implement school-based management. In return, they have to be more transparent and accountable in their operation and include all key stakeholders in their governance structure, including school sponsoring body representatives, the principal and elected teacher, parent and alumni representatives and independent members.

School Development and Accountability

The School Development and Accountability Framework seeks to foster sustained school development through school self-evaluation (complemented by the external school review) to give schools the benefit of feedback and suggestions for improvement from reviewers with perspective across schools.

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