Hong Kong’s CityU may take 4 to 5 years to double non-local student intake: president
- ‘If you rush this, all students will suffer. Because where will they stay? Do you have space for them to study?’ Professor Freddy Boey says
City University of Hong Kong (CityU) may take four to five years to double the non-local undergraduate intake allowed under a newly expanded quota, its head has stressed, warning that rushing to achieve the goal will leave students suffering from a lack of adequate facilities.
Professor Freddy Boey, who has been leading CityU for a year, said mainland Chinese students would inevitably continue to make up most of the non-local students in the city’s tertiary institutions.
The Singaporean added he was going to make sure hostels and teaching spaces were ready before reaching the new quota, which was announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu last October. Lee said the non-local student quota for programmes at publicly funded institutions would double to 40 per cent in September this year.
“If you rush this, all students will suffer. Because where will they stay? Do you have space for them to study?” Boey said.
“It is important that every student benefits rather than loses out because a lot of students come in.”
According to the new policy aimed at developing Hong Kong as an international postsecondary education hub, the number of non-local undergraduates will be increased to 30,000 from 15,000.