Section A The Present Landscape of Higher Education in Hong Kong
Chapter 7 : The Providers of CPE

(cf Chapter 21 and Chapter 22 and of "Higher Education in Hong Kong" (1996))

7.1	All UGC institutions provide continuing and professional education in different scope and extents. Some institutions have specialist units which do a great deal of work, often in association with overseas partners, leading to first degrees, while the others perform in a less centralized form and a smaller scale. In the present chapter we shall concentrate on their activities at other than undergraduate level. The School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE) at The University of Hong Kong offers classes at a number of centres in Hong Kong, Kowloon, New Territories and Macau. It has some 69,724 students (headcount) on about 1,600 courses. 52% of the students have a post-secondary qualification. The School stated aims include offering educational opportunity to the community, principally on a part-time, evening or weekend basis, giving access to career and training opportunities, and providing courses in China as well as in Hong Kong. The largest group of students is taking business studies, but computer science, law, English and other languages also attract substantial numbers. More than half of the courses at SPACE are work related. They include master degrees of the University of Hong Kong and with overseas partners. SPACE has a 47 full-time academic staff, and an administrative, clerical and auxiliary staff of 145. The University of Hong Kong carries the cost of core staff amounting to some HK$5m in 1997-98; remaining expenditure of about HK$280m (including capital expenditure) is balanced by fee income.
7.2	The School of Continuing Studies (SCS) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong offers courses at various centres in Hong Kong, Kowloon, and the New Territories. It has about 27,500 students (headcount) on 1,500 courses. More than 2,800 students are studying by distance learning. Language, art, business studies and computer science are popular areas. SCS has the highest proportion of cultural and leisure courses of any of the CPE units. Like SPACE, SCS runs a number of master and professional courses in collaboration with overseas institutions. It also runs tailor-made courses for PRC administrators and business executives. The total expenditure for 1997-98 academic year is $53m.The School of Continuing Studies (SCS) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong offers courses at various centres in Hong Kong, Kowloon, and the New Territories. It has about 27,500 students (headcount) on 1,500 courses. More than 2,800 students are studying by distance learning. Language, art, business studies and computer science are popular areas. SCS has the highest proportion of cultural and leisure courses of any of the CPE units. Like SPACE, SCS runs a number of master and professional courses in collaboration with overseas institutions. It also runs tailor-made courses for PRC administrators and business executives. The total expenditure for 1997-98 academic year is $53m.
7.3	The Centre for Professional and Continuing Education at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PACE) has 20,968 students on 619 courses. There is a small administrative staff, but most courses are organised and provided by academic departments. The primary mission of the Centre is to upgrade the skills of working adults. Income and expenditure is about HK$51m and HK$31m respectively. There is additionally a Centre for Professional and Business English (CPBE) with 7,200 students : 28% of its courses are company specific. The CityU has a School of Continuing and Professional Education (SCOPE) with 15,900 students on 565 courses. SCOPE aims include upgrading the qualification of working adults, and providing a range of learning experience for general interest, self development and retraining. Like the centre at PolyU, SCOPE draws on academic departments for the organisation and teaching of most of its courses. Expenditure level is about HK$45m. HKBU School of Continuing Education (SCE) works towards the "democratization of education". It has a very wide range of courses covering professional and personal development, home crafts and interest, music, dance, languages, office skills, philosophy and many other topics. There are some 46,400 students (headcount) on 1,720 courses.
7.4	CPE within the Hong Kong Institute of Education is strongly focussed on providing enhancement courses for those already engaged in teaching or training and on the development of language and language in education skills for those in the teaching profession. A substantial proportion of these courses are intended for teachers in government funded schools and government has contributed to the cost. 164 courses are, however, offered through the Division of Continuing and Professional Education which charges fees to the students or employers. The total number (fte) of teachers involved in these CPE programmes in 1997-98 was 1,000, and the number of student enrolment is 4,739.
7.5	There is no central CPE unit in the HKUST, but 91 CPE courses have been offered by its various departments. Except an Executive MBA programme which leads to the award of a formal TPg qualification, most CPE programmes in HKUST are short courses which last no longer than one week. The courses attracted 2,244 students, with a full-time equivalence of 120. LC and the Hong Kong Management Association (HKMA) jointly offered two CPE programmes, namely Diploma in Business Management and Diploma in Management Studies, with total student enrolment of 1,450 in 1997-98.
7.6	In summary, the CPE units in the UGC institutions divide into two groups. Those at HKU, CUHK and HKBU stem from an "extra mural" tradition and offer substantial numbers of cultural, leisure and language courses as well as studies more directly related to employment. Those at other institutions are of more recent origin and most of their courses are concerned with working or professional enhancement. The scale of operation of these units is summarised in Table 7.1. Table 7.1 Size of CPE Units (1997-98)
Unit No of Adm. Staff No. of FT Teachers No. of PT Teachers No. of Courses No. of Students Expenditure ( HK$m ) CityU SCOPE 7 - 770 565 15,916 45 HKBU SCE 49 8 597 1,720 46,351 117 LC - - - 19 2 1,450 0.03* CUHK SCS 10 - 1,041 1,508 27,535 53 HKIEd DCPE 14.5 - 330 164 4,739 7.4 PolyU PACE 6 3 350 619 20,968 35 CPBE 5 10 30 400 7,200 15 HKUST - 4 0 12 91 2,279 9 HKU SPACE 145 47 967 1,609 69,274 285
	* Most expenditure of CPE courses of LC are covered by Hong Kong Management Association. LC is only responsible for part of the clerical support fee. Source: UGC-funded institutions
7.7	Most of the students of the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK)are engaged on courses leading to a first degree or diploma (see Paragraph 3.4 above). However, all schools of the OUHK, including its Centre for Continuing and Community Education, offer short courses on professional and general interests, and master degrees are being introduced. The Caritas Adult and Higher Education Service provides part-time programmes of some 20 to 60 hours duration in accounting, art, commercial studies, languages, computing, practical skills and many other areas. It also offers tailor-made in-house training programmes to commercial organizations and government departments, and retraining courses funded by the Employees Retraining Board (ERB). To upgrade the knowledge and skills of those in employment, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) provided out-centre training courses and conferences or seminars for some 5,200 persons. The VTC Management Development Centre runs workshops and seminars to improve management skills, as well as producing learning material which can be used on an individual basis.
7.8	Also mainly in the management area are the executive development programmes (160 in all) offered by the HKMA. Other than master and degree programmes jointly offered with Australian and UK universities, the Association also offers specialized diploma and certificate programmes, some of them jointly with local tertiary institutions or overseas partners. To encourage managers to engage in CPE, the HKMA awards Management Development Credit Units for training hours and achievements. One hundred units lead to a certificate.
7.9	Also mainly in the management area are the executive development programmes (160 in all) offered by the HKMA. Other than master and degree programmes jointly offered with Australian and UK universities, the Association also offers specialized diploma and certificate programmes, some of them jointly with local tertiary institutions or overseas partners. To encourage managers to engage in CPE, the HKMA awards Management Development Credit Units for training hours and achievements. One hundred units lead to a certificate.
7.10	Another statutory body involved in CPE is the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC), which offers both evening courses at its main premises in Kowloon Tong and in-company training. The HKPC uses both its own staff and local and overseas experts. The HKPC has about 21,000 (headcount) students on 840 courses, ranging from 20 hours to lengthy diploma or certificate courses. Major themes are management and technology.
7.11	In addition to major providers of CPE such as the OUHK, Caritas, VTC, HKMA and HKPC, there are many smaller charitable, professional and profit-making organisations undertaking through-life education and training. They range from those devoted to a particular industry or profession, or the Hospital Authority Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies, the Hong Kong Tourist Association Training Centre or the Taxation Institute of Hong Kong, to those offering more generally applicable skills as in the various computer training centres. Among the charities, the Hong Kong Christian Service (HKCS) vocational training centre at Kwun Tong includes retraining and continuing education programmes, some using Cable TV. The HKCS has 1,300 full-time students, 10,100 (headcount) on short courses and evening courses and 1,000 on retraining courses. The areas covered include accounting and computing, commerce, design and photography and hotel and catering services.
7.12	Some of the larger organisations in Hong Kong are able to provide recurring education in-house, either from their own resources or by employing external experts. In house CPE tends to be more job specific than that available from external agencies, and company training organisations often try to meet localised needs within departments. As the largest employer in Hong Kong, the Government spent $776.4m in 1996-97 on supplying for its own employees 1,760,035 student days of training. It employed 777 full-time and part-time trainers. There are 281,488 students and 89% of work are done in-house. Not all of this training, of course, can be described as CPE. The largest component was 1,002,331 student days for the Hong Kong Police Force, 96% of them in-house, but Customs and Excise, the Correctional Services, the Fire Services, the Housing, the Health and the Urban Services Department all received more than 50,000 student days. Departments which used more than 5,000 student days of external training include Health, Housing, Social Welfare, Drainage Services, Lands, Labour, Hong Kong Police Force, Hong Kong Observatory, Transport and Water Services. Of the training which government provides for its own employees, 82% is job specific. The remaining 18% is concerned with more general skills in areas such as languages, computers and management.