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The Quest for Regional Education Hub Status: Challenges, Possibilities and Search for New Governance in Hong Kong

  • Chapter
Internationalization of Higher Education

Part of the book series: Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects ((EDAP,volume 28))

Abstract

The growing global interdependence has been recognized within higher education circles for decades, usually seen as “international education” and having its primary manifestation in student and faculty exchanges between countries. Over the last decade, especially after reaching the GATS agreement, higher education has been refined in part as a tradable commodity, and the amount of “globalized education” taking place is on the increase. With the strong intention of enhancing the global competitiveness of their higher education systems, governments across different parts of the world, especially in Asia, have engaged in the quest for different forms of hub status such as education hub, student hub, talent hub, and knowledge/information hub. Transnational higher education has become increasingly popular in Asian societies. Some Asian governments have invited foreign universities to set up their campuses to provide transnational education programs, while others have engaged in the quest for regional education hub status. The quest to become a regional hub of education inevitably leads to a new terrain of governance, complex and sometimes convoluted, which involves problems of coordination (and accountability and transparency), especially when dealing with multinational businesses, but which can bring to the state benefits in terms of flexibilities and forms of flexibilization and substitution which are not normally possible in administrative systems. This chapter sets out against this wider policy context to critically examine how Hong Kong stands in the journey toward making the city-state a regional education hub (When referring to “education hub” here, we adopt the definition by Knight that “an education hub is a planned effort to build a critical mass of local and international actors strategically engaged in crossborder education, training, knowledge production and innovation initiatives” (Knight, J Stud Int Educ 15(3):221–240, 2011, p. 277)), with particular reference to examining the major challenges and possibilities, as well as the implications, for university governance with the rise of transnational education programs and proliferation of providers in education.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The positioning of Hong Kong as Asia’s world city was first put forward by the then Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa in his 1999 Policy Address. Subsequently, the Brand Hong Kong program was launched in May 2001 to promotion Hong Kong internationally as Asia’s world city. Though some may simply sniff at the claim as somewhat exaggerated, the Time magazine, in January 2008, did accredit the city of Hong Kong together with New York and London as the three exemplars for and explanations of globalization (“A Tale of Three Cities,” 17 January 2008).

  2. 2.

    Since the issue of the Higher Education Review 2002, the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between Hong Kong and Mainland China was signed on 29 June 2003 and brought into force. Hong Kong political leaders, thereafter, have worked toward the policy direction of broadening and deepening its collaboration with Mainland China—particularly with Pearl River Delta—across all fronts, including education.

  3. 3.

    For instance, there were 7,293 nonlocal students enrolled in the UGC-funded institutions in the academic year 2007/08, while 2,811 others attended various programs at different higher education institutions on a self-financed basis. For the former, only 542 of them (7 %) were students who came from countries other than the Mainland China; while for the later, only 619 of them (22 %) were non-Mainland Chinese (Cheng et al., 2009: 41 & 45).

  4. 4.

    These six areas are educational services, medical services, testing and certification, environmental industry, innovation and technology, and finally, cultural and creative industries (Task Force on Economic Challenges, Hong Kong , 2009).

  5. 5.

    The budget cuts on government funding in higher education from 1999 to 2004, in particular, had driven the higher education sector in Hong Kong to look to the market for additional funding.

  6. 6.

    Statistics provided by the Information Portal for Accredited Self-financing Post-secondary Programmes (IPASS), HKSAR: http://www.ipass.gov.hk/eng/stat_pg_index.aspx (Accessed on 20 Jan 2015).

  7. 7.

    HKU SPACE refers to the School of Professional and Continuing Education, the University of Hong Kong .

  8. 8.

    For instance, in its preamble, the code of practice clearly states that it has “no mandatory effect and institutions should be able to put in place policies and guidelines to reflect their own mission and philosophy” (HKCAAVQ, 2007: 1).

  9. 9.

    EDB was previously the “Education and Manpower Bureau” (EMB). Its manpower portfolio was transferred to the new Labour and Welfare Bureau in July 2007 thus streamlined to become the Education Bureau.

  10. 10.

    HKCAAVQ is a rather new statutory body established under the HKCAAVQ Ordinance (Chapter 1150) which came into effect on October 1, 2007. It was previously the “Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation” (HKCAA). The new HKCAAVQ is appointed by the Secretary for Education as the Accreditation Authority and Qualifications Register (QR) Authority under the current Qualifications Framework (QF).

  11. 11.

    Statistics provided by the official website of Education Bureau, HKSAR: http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/edu-system/postsecondary/non-local-higher-professional-edu/stat-info/index.html (Last accessed on 17 January 2015).

  12. 12.

    The Qualifications Framework is a cross-sectoral hierarchy of qualifications (seven levels in total) covering both academic and vocational qualifications required by various industries.

  13. 13.

    The Qualifications Register is a centralized online database on qualifications, learning programs, as well as their providers/operators.

  14. 14.

    The eight UGC-funded institutions are: City University of Hong Kong , Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Education, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the University of Hong Kong. Among them, the Hong Kong Institute of Education’s self-accrediting status is applicable to its teacher education programs only.

  15. 15.

    Information from the section on “quality-assurance mechanism,” official website of the Qualifications Framework, Education Bureau, HKSAR: http://www.hkqf.gov.hk/guie/QA_mech.asp (Last Assessed on 13 September 2009).

    It is also worth noting that since all these UGC-funded institutions have today been increasingly involved in the provision of self-financing sub-degree programs, they have formed a Joint Quality Review Committee (JQRC) to oversee the quality of such programs and to assess these programs for classification onto the QR. (Information retrieved from the same section.).

  16. 16.

    Information from the Q&A section regarding “nonlocal higher and professional courses,” official website of the Education Bureau, HKSAR: http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?langno=1&nodeid=1251 (Last accessed 13 September 2009).

  17. 17.

    These institutions are: Hong Kong Shue Yan University, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the Open University of Hong Kong.

  18. 18.

    This is the statement that all advertisements of registered or exempted courses, by regulation, should contain.

  19. 19.

    Q&A section regarding “nonlocal higher and professional courses,” official website of the Education Bureau, HKSAR: http://www.edb.gov.hk/index.aspx?langno=1&nodeid=1251 (Last accessed 13 September 2009).

  20. 20.

    The most recent example is the launch of Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme by the Research Grants Council (RGC) in 2009. The Fellowship will provide a monthly stipend of HK$20,000, as well as a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$10,000 per year for a maximum period of three years. A total of 135 PhD Fellowships will be awarded for the 2010/2011 academic year.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lingnan University, Tuen Mun, NT, Hong Kong SAR

    Ka Ho Mok

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  1. Ka Ho Mok
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Correspondence to Ka Ho Mok .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education Policy and Leadership, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong

    Yin Cheong Cheng

  2. Department of Educational Administration and Policy, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong

    Alan Chi Keung Cheung

  3. Department of Education Policy and Leadership, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, NT, Hong Kong

    Shun Wing Ng

Additional information

Note This chapter is a revised and updated version of the author’s previous publication in 2012. Thanks go to the Research Grant Council of the HKSAR Government in support of the project “A Comparative Study of Transnational Higher Education Policy and Governance in Hong Kong , Shenzhen China, and Singapore ” (HKIEd7005-PPR-6).

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Mok, K.H. (2016). The Quest for Regional Education Hub Status: Challenges, Possibilities and Search for New Governance in Hong Kong. In: Cheng, Y., Cheung, A., Ng, S. (eds) Internationalization of Higher Education. Education in the Asia-Pacific Region: Issues, Concerns and Prospects, vol 28. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-667-6_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-667-6_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

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