TY - JOUR
T1 - Reforming higher education in Hong Kong towards post-massification: the first decade and challenges ahead
AU - Wan, Calvin
N1 - Funding Information:
In response to the Government proposal that higher education opportunities be increased, the Federation for Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions (FCE) – consisting of all publicly funded universities in Hong Kong as well as Open University, Vocational Training Council, and Caritas Community & Higher Education Service – supported the Government initiatives (Federation for Continuing Education [FCE], 2001). It was suggested that the target of providing 60 per cent of senior secondary students the opportunity to pursue higher education was feasible. Self-financed programmes with Government support for start-up loans were deemed an appropriate means of achieving this target. Since the reform, most of the local educational institutions have started to offer associate degree programmes since 2001. The associate degree (AD) programmes focus on imparting general knowledge to students. In contrast, the higher diploma programmes, offered since the colonial era, focus on equipping students with knowledge in specific and professional areas; these programmes can be regarded as vocational education to some extent. In 2001, the Financial Committee of the Legislative Council approved a package of support measures to facilitate a progressive expansion in self-financing for post-secondary programmes; one of the measures was to offer a loan scheme to post-secondary education providers to support their initial start-up costs. The loans could be used for purchasing, renting, or building campuses for the provision of post-secondary programmes. At the end of 2009, a total of 23 loans amounting to over HK$4 billion were approved for 14 different institutions (Legislative Council, 2010). According to the Progress Report on Education Reform No. 4 (Education Commission, 2006), five tracts of land were also allocated.
PY - 2011/3/3
Y1 - 2011/3/3
N2 - The process of reforming Hong Kong's higher education sector commenced in 2001, and the system moved into the post-massification era. Within five years, the post-secondary participation rate for the 17-20 age cohort had increased to 66 per cent. This target was achieved much earlier than the Government had planned. More educational opportunities have been made available in order to help society cope with the challenges of the knowledge-based economy. This policy has drawn repeated criticism from the media, students, and pressure groups concerned about the quality of the self-financed sub-degree programmes. Drawing upon the literature and published data, this paper examines the development of the higher education sector in the past decade. The key motives for the Government to expand the mass higher education sector include a globalised economy, unemployment, ideological changes in political leadership, and weaknesses inherent in the elitist approach. Self-financed programmes are offered in the sectors where the Government has not faced problems of financial stringency. However, articulation opportunities, quality of education and educated unemployment are the key challenges ahead.
AB - The process of reforming Hong Kong's higher education sector commenced in 2001, and the system moved into the post-massification era. Within five years, the post-secondary participation rate for the 17-20 age cohort had increased to 66 per cent. This target was achieved much earlier than the Government had planned. More educational opportunities have been made available in order to help society cope with the challenges of the knowledge-based economy. This policy has drawn repeated criticism from the media, students, and pressure groups concerned about the quality of the self-financed sub-degree programmes. Drawing upon the literature and published data, this paper examines the development of the higher education sector in the past decade. The key motives for the Government to expand the mass higher education sector include a globalised economy, unemployment, ideological changes in political leadership, and weaknesses inherent in the elitist approach. Self-financed programmes are offered in the sectors where the Government has not faced problems of financial stringency. However, articulation opportunities, quality of education and educated unemployment are the key challenges ahead.
KW - Higher education
KW - Hong kong
KW - Post-massification
KW - Reform
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=79952526216&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/1360080X.2011.550034
DO - 10.1080/1360080X.2011.550034
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:79952526216
SN - 1360-080X
VL - 33
SP - 115
EP - 129
JO - Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
JF - Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management
IS - 2
ER -
