- Vocational Training Council chairman wants public cash to subsidise applied degree programmes
Subsidies should be given to support quality degree programmes more oriented towards practical skills to boost Hong Kong's long-term economic development, the chairman of the city's largest vocational education provider has said.
Dr Roy Chung Chi-ping said the government should also consider having a government-subsidised local university offer these applied degree programmes in the interest of the city.
The Vocational Training Council (VTC) chairman's comments came as Hong Kong reviews its vocational education policies, and a task force is expected to submit its final report at the end of the year.
Speaking to the Post on the sidelines of the WorldSkills Competition in Kazan, Russia, Chung pointed to the success of universities of applied sciences in Europe, which offer vocational training at degree level.
Switzerland, for example, offers applied degrees which run in parallel to the academic pathway in universities, he said.
"Switzerland has a population of about 8 million, similar to Hong Kong and there are eight universities of applied sciences of which seven are public," Chung said.
Finland, which is widely regarded as having one of the best education systems in the world, has 25 universities of applied sciences, of which 23 are public ones for a population of 5.5 million, he added.
"In the interests of long-term economic development, we should consider having one government-subsidised university in Hong Kong to offer professionally oriented higher education and applied degree programmes," he said.
Chung, who is also the chairman of the task force on promotion of vocational and professional education and training, said he hoped an applied degree would help students get recognition in their trades.
He said the response to such a programme had been very positive for the review's consultation, which ended in July.
It is important that the proposed degrees should not be perceived as inferior to the conventional academic degreesVTC chairman Roy Chung
While there are some vocationally oriented local degree programmes, such as those in nursing and engineering, the role of skills training is not apparent in the higher education sector, according to a consultation document released by the task force.
This affects students in deciding whether to pursue vocational education, the paper added.
It also said the government should explore developing degrees primarily oriented towards practical skills, differentiated from conventional degrees by a combination of basic theoretical components, practical learning, industry experience and recognition by relevant professional trades.
Chung said VTC's Technological and Higher Education Institute, a self-financing institution, offers a variety of programmes, such as in aircraft engineering.
"To meet the stringent safety regulations and requirements of different industries, specialised equipment and hardware with high upfront costs are needed," he said.
The financial burden, Chung said, if borne by institutions alone, would hinder their development.
As such, he called on the government to provide subsidies. This can come in the form of a scheme open to bids by such institutions in launching equipment-intensive programmes involving high capital investment.
While there has been an improvement in the public's overall perception of vocational training, with 60.2 per cent of respondents saying they had a positive impression on such education in a tracking survey last year, compared with 50.8 per cent in 2015, only 54 per cent of student respondents considered it a valuable choice for further academic or career pursuit.
The top reason for not pursuing such training is that their academic results allowed them to pursue better education opportunities.
Four in five Hongkongers view vocational education inferior to university, poll finds
However, experts have highlighted the importance of vocational education in nurturing manpower for the ever changing global economy.
"It is important that the proposed degrees should not be perceived as inferior to the conventional academic degrees as reflected in areas such as entrance requirement, recognition of qualification for further studies and funding source," Chung said.
There are around 15,000 coveted first-year undergraduate places offered by the city's eight public universities each year. There are also 5,000 Year Three entry places each year for sub-degree graduates. VTC provides about 17,000 vocational places including degrees, higher diplomas and diplomas.
In addition, about 20 self-financing institutions also offer academic and vocational degrees and sub-degree programmes.
The Technological and Higher Education Institute offers 21 bachelor's programmes.
Separately, a report by Our Hong Kong Foundation also called for school-based subsidies for self-financing institutions, instead of those given to students, to increase the quality of their applied degrees.
As Hong Kong lags behind competitors, vocational education needs a boost
Taking reference from Singapore universities' 15 per cent cohort intake quota for aptitude-based admissions, the think tank also called for increasing the non-standard admissions quota of self-financing institutions from 5 per cent to 15 per cent.
Higher education institutions in Hong Kong admit students mostly based on their results in public exams, such as the Diploma of Secondary Education and International Baccalaureate.
Meanwhile, non-governmental and human rights advocacy group Society for Community Organisation urged the government to treat such applied degrees equally with academic degrees in its recruitment conditions, so as to act as a role model for the private market.
Chung also said it was important to use events such as the WorldSkills competition, where countries and regions battle it out for top honours in different trades, to promote vocational education.
"If students can see that this competition is so large-scale like the Olympics, not only can they raise their standards, but also see the importance of skills development," he said.
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