Learn Chinese online - HK seeks to lure brightest young minds

Opinion / Zou Hanru

HK seeks to lure brightest young minds
By Zou Hanru (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-07-14 06:12

Globalization of higher education and a surge in the number of mainland
students looking southwards for tertiary studies has prompted the Hong
Kong government to establish a steering committee to promote the city as
a regional education hub.

The committee, headed by Chief Secretary for Administration Rafael Hui,
is charged with studying and formulating policies in areas such as
immigration and employment. The purpose of this extensive exercise is to
bolster Hong Kong's competitiveness in the global battle for the
brightest young minds.

Relaxation of immigration rules to allow tertiary institutions to accept
more non-local students is the key to the success of the education hub
plan, which is pretty much still on the drawing board.

Hong Kong raised the quota for non-local students from 4 to 10 per cent
last year. But university leaders want an incremental growth to 20 per
cent.

The city's eight publicly funded universities enrolled 4,700 non-local
students in 2005-2006, or 6 per cent of the total student population.
Mainlanders made up the bulk of the recruits because of their
geographical proximity and cultural affinity.

They accounted for more than 90 per cent of non-local undergraduates and
postgraduates at Chinese University and City University and 89 per cent
at Polytechnic University. Meanwhile, 54 per cent of the University of
Hong Kong's (HKU) non-local undergraduates and 76 per cent of its
postgraduates come from the mainland.

Though traditionally prestigious seats of learning such as Peking
University and Tsinghua University will continue to attract the top
performers in the college entrance exams, more mainland students are
expected to make a beeline for Hong Kong this year.

The extent of the inflow can be gauged by HKU's recent announcement that
it has received 10,000 applications for undergraduate studies alone this
year compared to 4,848 last year.

Mainland students have a number of reasons to choose Hong Kong, not least
because it's a place where the East meets West. They are drawn to the
city's multicultural and multilingual environment, hoping to benefit from
its more global outlook.

Some opt for it because of the generous scholarships offered to top
performers. HKU, for an example, has earmarked a scholarship budget of
HK$55 million (US$7.1 million) for mainlanders, with students getting
anything between HK$30,000 (US$3,896) and HK$100,000 (US$12,987) a year.

Good employment prospects are also a temptation the students find hard to
resist, especially when well-paid jobs are becoming a rarity on the
mainland nowadays. An HKU survey shows that 99 per cent of its 2005
graduates are either employed or pursuing further studies. Those working
earn an average salary of HK$14,214 (US$1,822) a month, with some making
as much as HK$74,443 (US$9,544).

But Hong Kong may not be the best choice for all, particularly students
pursuing natural sciences. What's worse, the city has limited employment
opportunities in this field.

Unless they get a scholarship, mainland students should think twice
before moving to Hong Kong. They ought to realize that the cost of
education is too heavy a burden for an average mainland family to bear.
University fees range from HK$60,000 (US$7,792) to HK$80,000 (US$10,390)
a year. Meanwhile, the cost of living in Hong Kong is the fourth-highest
in the world.

But despite all the odds, more mainland students will flock to Hong Kong
and help this regional education hub take shape.

Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.hk

(China Daily 07/14/2006 page4)

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