Chapter 9: Education-related Executive and Advisory Bodies

Members of the community play an important part in the planning and development, management and review of the education system by serving on various advisory bodies. Through them, public views are sought on major initiatives in education and major changes of policies, and on how these initiatives or changes could be implemented most effectively.

The Education Commission (EC) is responsible for advising the Government on the overall educational objectives and policies, and the priorities for implementation. It also co-ordinates the work of all other major education-related advisory bodies on the planning and development of education at all levels. Its membership includes government officials, education professionals from the tertiary, secondary, primary and early childhood education sectors, and members of some other sectors of the community.

The EC has completed its comprehensive review of the education system and submitted its recommendations to the Government. Implementation of the reform measures is under way.

The major reform initiatives include introducing new Primary 1 and Secondary 1 school places allocation mechanisms and a comprehensive school curriculum reform; increasing learning opportunities at the senior secondary and post-secondary levels; improving the public examination system; and enhancing support for schools and teachers to improve the overall quality of education in Hong Kong.

The EC has set up three Working Groups to examine the feasibility of implementing a three-year academic structure for senior secondary education, and the future development of post-secondary education and continuing education in Hong Kong. It will submit recommendations to the Government in 2002.

The Board of Education (BOE) is a statutory body advising the Government on school education, with particular emphasis on how to ensure the smooth implementation of education policies and initiatives for pre-school and school education, including special education. The BOE comprises members with different expertise and experiences in pre-school education, special schools, school administration, teaching, teacher education, tertiary education, business and other professions.

During the year, the BOE and its four subcommittees, one task force and one working group continued to deliberate on the implementation of education initiatives such as a community support network for life-wide learning, strategy to cope with learning diversity, principals' professional development, reading to learn and parent education.

The Curriculum Development Council (CDC) advises the Government on matters relating to school curriculum development from kindergarten to the senior secondary level. Members of the CDC and its network of committees include school heads, teachers, parents and employers, academics, representatives from the Hong Kong Examinations Authority and the Vocational Training Council. In July, the CDC published the final report 'Learning to Learn — The Way Forward in Curriculum Development', making recommendations on curriculum development in Hong Kong in order to realise the vision of enabling students to attain all-round development and lifelong learning (see Curriculum above).

The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR) was set up in 1996 to advise the Government on language education issues in general and to identify research and development projects which are necessary for the enhancement of language proficiency.

Projects to enhance language standard in Chinese (including Putonghua) and English are funded by the Language Fund under the management of SCOLAR. By October, the fund had committed around $275 million for 237 projects.

The Advisory Committee on Teacher Education and Qualifications was set up in 1993, upon the recommendation of the Education Commission Report No. 5, to provide a single source of authoritative advice on teacher education and on qualifications acceptable for teaching purposes in Hong Kong. Its chairman and the majority of its members are non-officials who include school heads, teachers, and representatives from the private sector. The ex officio members include representatives of all the local teacher training institutes, the Executive Director of the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation, and government officials.

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.

When the UGC was established in 1965 to administer grants to the then two publicly funded universities, there were only 4 000 full-time equivalent students. After decades of development in higher education, eight institutions are now under the UGC's aegis and the number of full-time equivalent students increased to 68 798 in the 2000-01 academic year (see Higher Education above).

The UGC plays a major role in monitoring quality assurance in its institutions. Considering the positive impact of the first round of the Teaching and Learning Quality Process Reviews (TLQPRs) in engendering institutions' awareness of quality in teaching and learning, the UGC launched the second round of the TLQPRs in October.

The UGC launched the second round of the Areas of Excellence scheme in January 2000. The scheme, launched in 1998, aims to identify existing areas of strength in the UGC-funded institutions and develop them into excellent groups which would be recognised internationally as of equal status to their peers elsewhere and which would justify substantial investment in state-of-the-art facilities. The second round was concluded in September, and awarded about $100 million over five years to three projects.

In order to develop Hong Kong into a regional centre for higher education and to enhance the global outlook of local students, the UGC has secured private donations to launch scholarship schemes to support outstanding students from top universities in the Mainland to pursue undergraduate studies in Hong Kong. The first such scheme started in the 1999-2000 academic year. The UGC looks forward to the continued support of the private sector for the schemes.

The Research Grants Council (RGC) advises the Government, through the UGC, on the needs of the higher education institutions for academic research and allocates research grants to the institutions. Its members comprise local academics, overseas academics as well as local professionals and industrialists.

Research grant applications received from the UGC-funded institutions are considered and assessed by the RGC's four specialist subject panels which are composed mainly of local academics, covering physical sciences, engineering, biology and medicine, humanities, social sciences and business studies. The panels are assisted in their work by an independent network of international academic referees who provide impartial and expert advice. In the 2001-02 exercise, the RGC received a total of 1 630 applications for its Competitive Earmarked Research Grant and supported a total of 693 projects. For the year, the council committed a total of $511 million as earmarked grants for academic research.

During the year, the RGC continued to operate joint research schemes with the German Academic Exchange Service and the French Consulate General in Hong Kong to strengthen existing links between local and overseas tertiary institutions. There is also a joint research scheme with the National Natural Science Foundation of China to foster closer collaboration between academics in the Mainland and Hong Kong.

The Vocational Training Council (VTC) advises the Government on measures to ensure a comprehensive system of vocational education and technical training suited to the needs of Hong Kong's evolving economy. It administers the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, industrial training and development centres, skills centres for persons with a disability and provisions of the Apprenticeship Ordinance. Its membership comprises representatives from the industry, commerce and service sectors, employee representatives and government officials.

During the year, 20 training boards and five general committees, including a newly established Beauty Care Training Board, continued to help the VTC implement its training programmes. The main tasks of the training boards and general committees include assessing manpower needs and recommending measures to meet such needs, prescribing job specifications, training programmes and trade test guidelines, and overseeing the operation of training centres and trade testing.

The Hong Kong Examinations Authority (HKEA) is an independent and self-funding statutory body, with members drawn from the teaching profession, tertiary institutions and the business community. Its main function is to operate two local public examinations: the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (HKCEE) and the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE). It also conducts examinations for overseas examining professional bodies and other local organisations.

During the year, 124 794 candidates sat for the HKCEE and 35 272 sat for the HKALE. The percentage of awards at grade E or above for day school candidates in A-level subjects was 76.1, an improvement from 74.9 in 2000. The percentage at grade E or above for day school candidates in the HKCEE was 70.3 compared with 69.4 in 2000. The percentages of grade awards at grade E or above for school candidates in the subjects of HKCEE Chinese Language and English Language (Syllabus B) were 66.9 and 67.8 respectively (66.1 and 64.6 in 2000).

Following a review commissioned by the HKEA on the public examination system, a number of changes will be implemented in stages in the HKALE and HKCEE in the coming years. With effect from 2002, fine grades will be abolished and the results of HKCEE and HKALE will be reported in six grades only. The Teacher Assessment Scheme (TAS) will be extended to more HKALE subjects starting from the 2002-03 school year. The core-competence approach for HKCEE large-entry subjects and how to allow Secondary 6 students to sit for the HKALE are being studied. The HKEA will also examine the Education Commission's other recommendations for reforming the public examination system.

Established by the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation (HKCAA) Ordinance in 1990, the HKCAA is an independent statutory body with 20 members appointed by the Chief Executive, comprising senior academics and renowned professionals from Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas countries. It is supported by a secretariat of full-time staff, plus more than 1 000 local and overseas experts in a great variety of subject disciplines, and has strong links with international and regional higher education accreditation authorities, including the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education.

Ever since its establishment in 1990, the HKCAA has been tasked to safeguard the quality and standards of degree programmes offered by local non-university institutions through two kinds of accreditation activities, namely institutional review and programme validation. In 2001, institutional reviews were conducted for the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and the Hong Kong Shue Yan College, and validations of degree programmes of these institutions and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

The HKCAA's accreditation activity has been extended to cover sub-degree qualifications. Programme validations were conducted for the Higher Diploma programmes offered by the Caritas Francis Hsu College, subsequent to an assessment of the College by the HKCAA for the purpose of registration under the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance (Cap. 320). The council's accreditation work on sub-degree programmes has been further expanded to support the Government's initiative to support the progressive increase in post-secondary education opportunities. The council has been invited to advise on the formulation of a set of common descriptors for Associate Degree and to accredit these sub-degree programmes at non-self-accrediting institutions. During the year, institutional reviews and programme validations were conducted for a number of self-financing post-secondary education programme providers and their Higher Diploma and Associate Degree programmes.

Apart from local degrees and sub-degrees, the HKCAA continues to advise the Registrar of Non-local Courses on whether the non-local higher and professional courses applying for operation in Hong Kong can meet the registration criteria stipulated by the Non-local Higher and Professional Education (Regulation) Ordinance. In addition, the council is also involved in the annual monitoring of the registered courses and in advising whether registration of the courses should be continued.

Upon request, the HKCAA offers advisory services to professional bodies, institutions and government departments in relation to accreditation, quality assurance and educational standards. During the year, the council also advised the Government on two new educational initiatives. The first one was the Project Yi Jin programme, which aims to provide an alternative study route for secondary school leavers who perform less well in the public examinations. The council advised on the standard of programme and also monitored the students' learning outcomes. The other new initiative was related to the Government's commitment to enhance the language abilities of teachers and students. In this respect, the council was invited to evaluate the standard of the training courses proposed by local and non-local tertiary institutions to enable teachers to reach the language proficiency levels stipulated by the Government.

At the request of the Civil Service Bureau, other government bureaux and departments, public and private organisations as well as individuals, the HKCAA continued to undertake qualification assessment on comparability of non-local qualifications with local standards.