In December 2010, the UGC submitted its report titled "Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong" (available on the UGC website, /minisite/big5/ugc/report/report.htm) to the Government, which was published simultaneously. The report aimed to examine the entire sector with a view to offering recommendations on appropriate strategies for the future development of post secondary education in Hong Kong. The UGC considered it important for Hong Kong to strive for excellence through discerning the world trends and challenges facing the sector, and then refining our strategies. The Government studied the recommendations and consulted the stakeholders in the post-secondary sector in 2011. On 3 November 2011, the Government announced its endorsement of the overall strategies and directions recommended in the Report. Specifically, it supported that a Credit Accumulation and Transfer System (CATS) should be developed for the whole post-secondary system and that such system should be appropriate for articulation between different levels and across different institutions at the same level. On internationalisation, the Government agreed with the UGC that it should cover a wide spectrum of issues, including student recruitment, integration of all students on campus, provision of hostel and private accommodation, research collaboration, international faculty mix and curriculum design, etc. The UGC welcomed the Government's positive responses.

The world of higher education is moving very quickly and Hong Kong cannot afford to lag behind. We are fortunate to have an excellent base to build on, with a flourishing post-secondary education sector and significant advances by UGC-funded institutions, but the future of Hong Kong's higher education depends on our strategies today. The follow-up of the Report will hence be one of the major endeavors of the UGC in the coming years.

The UGC's report "Aspirations for the Higher Education System in Hong Kong" (December 2010)

The UGC will work closely with the Government, the UGC-funded institutions and other stakeholders to pursue the various initiatives that will contribute to the development of a healthy, vibrant and internationally competitive post-secondary education sector in Hong Kong. The UGC established a Higher Education Review Follow-up Group, convened by Professor David Eastwood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, UK, to monitor the implementation progress, particularly on the following tasks:

Provide diversified and flexible pathways for students to facilitate their progression within the post-secondary education system

To take the development of a CATS forward, the UGC would conduct in-depth research on CATS in other jurisdictions and the developments in Hong Kong with a view to formulating suggestions on how CATS should be developed in Hong Kong for the entire post-secondary sector including the publicly-funded and the self-financing institutions.

Ensure coherence and consistency in quality assurance in the post-secondary education sector

The UGC will continue to ensure enhancement of teaching and learning in the UGC-funded institutions through the QAC's quality audits and the QAC has commenced a review of the audit process and the Audit Manual. Separately, to promote and encourage innovative approaches to teaching and learning, the UGC will continue to allocate the Teaching Development Grants and Language Enhancement Grants to institutions in 2012-15 triennium, and to implement new funding schemes.

Pursue further and deeper internationalisation in the entire post-secondary education sector

To pursue the initiatives to promote internationalisation and engagement with Mainland China as contemplated in the Report, the UGC has commenced a strategic dialogue with the institutions to map the way forward and to set priorities, having regard to the need to respect institutional autonomy and the institutions' plans and policies that are already in place.