This year about 73,000 young people took the Diploma of Secondary School exams. Only 15,000 were lucky enough to enter one of the seven government-funded universities and the Hong Kong Institute of Education.

Many of the remaining 58,000 students may go to post-secondary colleges or schools of continuing education to study for a degree, an associated degree or a higher diploma. They shouldn't be content with these options, nevertheless. In fact, they should "go North" to study in one of the mainland universities or Sino-foreign joint-venture universities.

A 4-year university program on the mainland is much better than a 2-year diploma or associate-degree program in Hong Kong. After four years of study, not only will the Hong Kong cohorts be well-educated, they will also have better career opportunities. They can choose to work on the mainland or return to work in Hong Kong. As the old saying goes, the sky is the limit for them.

China's economy has become the world's second largest and is still growing, albeit at a slower pace than in previous years. Job opportunities will be aplenty.

It would be great if local kids can enroll in Tsinghua, Peking or Fudan universities. They shouldn't be disappointed if they get accepted by one of the other top universities. Indeed, mainland universities are faring better than Hong Kong's. Tsinghua, Peking and Fudan all have jumped in the world rankings in the 2012-13 Times Higher Education World University rankings released earlier this month. Tsinghua surged to 52 from 71; Peking rose to 46 from 49; and Fudan advanced to 201 from 226.

In contrast, both University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have slipped in the rankings.

Some Hong Kong parents may want their young folks to study in an English environment, as English is useful both at work and in further studies. They shouldn't worry a bit. There are several Sino-foreign joint venture universities established on the mainland in recent years. There is a joint venture between the University of Nottingham and Wanli University at Ningbo, Zhejiang province. The Xi'an-Jiaotong Liverpool University is located at Suzhou, Jiangsu province. The third one is called Sino-British University College in Shanghai, a joint venture between University of Shanghai Science and Technology and nine British universities.

The fourth one, the United International College (UIC), is a joint venture between Beijing Normal University and Hong Kong Baptist University. The UIC is based in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, bordering Macao. Many UIC students come to HK Baptist University in summer to study credit-bearing courses taught in English.

Some Hong Kong parents may lose sleep over the tuition and living costs on the mainland. Again, they shouldn't agonize. In June this year, Vice-Education Minister Hao Ping said the central government would set up a special fund in 2013 that would subsidize 2,000 Hong Kong students and academics to pursue studies and research on the mainland each year. This "special gift" should be welcomed by local parents and high-school graduates with glee.

Sending young people to study on the mainland should be less expensive than dispatching them to study in overseas universities. The career prospects of graduates from mainland universities or Sino-foreign joint-venture universities are by no means less bright than their counterparts, who graduate from British or American universities. For instance, multinational corporations on the mainland probably would employ a young man or woman from Hong Kong with a mainland degree because he (or she) speaks both English and Putonghua well; and more importantly he (or she) understands mainland politics and business practices.

Young people in Hong Kong and their cautious and timid parents: the time to think "go North" is gone. Now is the time for our youngsters to "go North" to study in one of the mainland's universities.

The author is coordinator of the B.S.Sc in financial journalism program at Hong Kong Baptist University

(HK Edition 10/13/2012 page3)