The Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) has strong aspirations to acquire an official university title in three years' time in the light of its ongoing and sustained efforts over the past years, its president Prof. Anthony Cheung stated.

In the interim period, HKIEd will launch further multidisciplinary bachelor degree and master degree courses as it moves towards being a Hong Kong university of teacher education in 2012.

"The government has accepted the recommendation of the University Grants Committee (UGC) to provide additional financial resources for the HKIEd to run more undergraduate and research degree courses in accordance with our development blueprint," he told China Daily.

They include a Bachelor of Arts in Language Studies and a Bachelor of Social Sciences in Global and Environmental Studies, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Arts and Culture, and all of them are ready for launch in 2010-11.

The HKIEd is also planning to establish a Graduate School to support research postgraduate degree programs offering a Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy next year. The Institute will further diversify its postgraduate programs with the launch of an innovative International Executive Master of Arts program in Educational Leadership and Change in early 2010 as its new signature program.

"We have the full credentials to obtain university status," said Cheung. "If we do well in these new programs, an official university title will be just like water in the pipeline."

The HKIEd was founded in April 1994, following the merger of several teacher training and language training colleges. Over the years, it has produced more than 35,000 graduates.

At present, about 84 percent of Hong Kong primary school teachers, 30 percent of secondary school teachers and 80 percent of kindergarten teachers are graduates of HKIEd or the former colleges of education.

As for academic staff, 85 percent of them possess a doctor's degree, while the number of chair professors and professors has increased to 32 from 10 in December 2007.

In July 1996, HKIEd joined the UGC to become one of the eight publicly-funded tertiary education institutions in Hong Kong.

In 1997, it moved into the present campus in Tai Po, which is equipped with dedicated facilities for teacher education. The following year, it introduced the first Bachelor of Education program.

In March 2004, the government granted self-accrediting status to HKIEd. In September 2005, the first Master of Education program was launched, while the first Doctor of Education program was introduced two years later.

In between time, HKIEd adopted its development blueprint and submitted an application for university title to the government in June 2007.

When former secretary for education and manpower Arthur Li was in office between 2002 and 2007, he was opposed to the transformation of HKIEd into a university, citing it as a mere single-subject tertiary education institution.

Since October 2005, Professor Anthony Cheung has been a Member of the Executive Council, which is Chief Executive Donald Tsang's quasi-cabinet.

On January 2, 2008, Cheung assumed the post of President of HKIEd.

On January 14, 2008, less than two weeks after taking office, he invited six of his Executive Council fellow non-official members to visit the Tai Po campus to familiarize them with the development of the Institute, the strategic directions of the development blueprint and the aspirations for a university title.

During the tour, Cheung told the visitors that HKIEd is in fact a university yet without a university title, as it has already gained the self-accreditation status and is subject to rigorous assessments in quality assurance, teaching, learning and research standards.

The visit has been widely interpreted as paving the way for HKIEd to acquire a university title, but Cheung said the pace of the upgrading process has nothing to do with his position as a cabinet member.

Without commenting on Arthur Li, Cheung admitted that the UGC in the past considered HKIEd as unsuitable for upgrading to university status, because only one subject was taught there.

"We disagreed with the UGC. It only said we should not become a university but it did not say we were not qualified to become a university," he argued.

At that time, the UGC gave two options for HKIEd to choose. The first option is amalgamation with another university. For the other, the HKIEd can move towards independence, but needs to offer more subjects. "We chose the later route," he said.

"The view of the then policy maker was that the role of HKIEd was nothing but training teachers to teach in secondary and primary schools and so it did not need any research postgraduates," Cheung said without naming a name.

"In our opinion, the nurturing of postgraduates is one of the missions of universities. For an established university, the ratio of undergraduates and postgraduates shall be 50-50."

In June this year, the government accepted the UGC recommendation for HKIEd to develop itself into an education-focused, multidisciplinary institution with research capabilities.

The government also agreed to provide additional funding for more undergraduate and postgraduate degree places as HKIEd unveiled its strategic plan that aims at its transformation into the future Hong Kong University of Education.

(HK Edition 09/25/2009 page4)