Welcoming Remarks by Chairman, UGC at the Presentation Ceremony of the 2019 UGC Teaching Award cum Launching Ceremony of HKTEA (10.10.2019)

Presentation Ceremony of 2019 UGC Teaching Award cum
Launching Ceremony of HKTEA - 10 October 2019
Welcoming Remarks by Chairman, University Grants Committee

Council Chairmen, Heads of Universities, Honourable Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening. Welcome to the presentation ceremony of the UGC Teaching Award for 2019 – our annual celebratory event for good teaching in the UGC sector.

2. UGC recognises teaching excellence in the sector and has always encouraged and supported universities in striving for continuous improvement of the learning experiences for our students. In the 2016-19 Triennium, we launched the Funding Scheme for Teaching and Learning Related Proposals. A total of 38 projects costing about $256 million were supported. As these funded projects are still ongoing, instead of launching another round of the competitive funding scheme in the 2019-22 triennium, it was decided to inject the relevant resources into the annual provision of the Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG) to our universities. As a result, TDLEG provided to universities in the current triennium will amount to $781.2 million, an increase of $268.4 million from the previous triennium. With the significant injection of resources, we will not only help universities sustain their initiatives and activities, but also send a strong message that the UGC values teaching and learning as much as research.

3. To further emphasise the importance of quality teaching and enhance the impact of the UGC Teaching Award, UGC has initiated a new network for UGC Teaching Award Fellows, and provided funding support to its operation. We aim to set up a framework within which the UGC Teaching Award Fellows can collectively provide a sustainable and positive impact on student learning; and also promote recognition for the Award. It is with great pleasure that I join you this evening to mark the establishment of the Hong Kong Teaching Excellence Alliance (HKTEA).

4. I would like to congratulate Members of the HKTEA Preparatory Committee, who have worked very hard over the last couple of months to prepare for the establishment of this community. My special thanks go to the Chair, Professor Isabella Poon, for her leadership. I wish HKTEA every success in their work and appeal to all of you for your support and participation in HKTEA's activities.

5. Apart from the establishment of HKTEA, signing of the first University Accountability Agreement (UAA) with our universities also made 2019 a special and an important year for the UGC sector. The signing of UAA illustrates the concerted efforts of both UGC and our universities to enhance accountability and transparency of the universities in their performance in the education of our youths, and their drive to continuous improvement. We all know that our universities have an excellent international reputation. Effective governance and public accountability of institutional activities will further assure public confidence and help ensure the sustainability of the UGC sector.

6. For this year's UGC Teaching Award, we have received 19 nominations from universities and seven of them have been selected as finalists. Let us now congratulate the finalists. They, in the order of their last names, are -

• Mr David Bishop, Principal Lecturer of the Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Hong Kong;
• Dr Kennedy Chan, Assistant Professor of the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong;
• Dr Tushar Chaudhuri, Associate Head of the Department of Government and International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University;
• Professor Sidharth Jaggi, Associate Professor of the Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong;
• Professor Darwin Lau, Assistant Professor of the Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong;
• The Inter-institutional Team for the AIE-AR Project, led by Hong Kong Baptist University; and
• The Common Core@HKU: Transdisciplinarity-in-Action Team of The University of Hong Kong

Let's give these outstanding teachers a big round of applause! The Chair of the Selection Panel, Professor Jan Thomas, will announce the results of this year's award in a moment.

7. Let me extend to all nominees, finalists and awardees my warmest congratulations. I sincerely thank our universities, Professor Jan Thomas, and Members of the Panel for making this year's Award a success.

8. Finally on a personal note, I would like to say I am, like all of you, saddened with the escalating violence and our society being torn apart over these past few months. No matter on which side of the political divide you may belong, we should condemn violence and urge for rational dialogue. Let's pray that good sense will return and Hong Kong can soon go back to the peaceful and safe city that we have all been used to and took for granted in the past.

9. I wish you all a great evening and a very successful academic year ahead. Thank you.