Self-financed higher education in Hong Kong is an important provider of quality continuing and professional education opportunities for learners, both part-time for working adults and full-time for school leavers and sub-degree holders.  In addition to local awards, the availability of transnational education (TNE) programmes has been important in increasing the variety of offerings and the international recognition of the qualifications awarded.

Due to continuous change in the demand for transnational education, the College hosted the second International Conference on Quality and Self-financed Higher Education ‘Connecting Local and Global’ on 11 March 2023, inviting leaders from overseas and local education circles as guest speakers to share their experience of and prospects for transnational education which attracted over 200 participants both physically and virtually across several time zones.

Professor Ian Holliday, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Teaching and Learning) of The University of Hong Kong and Chairman of HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education Board of Directors inaugurated the conference and welcomed ‘all of the participants from different universities, institutions, professions and different parts of the world who are participating to exchange experiences, build capacity and expand their knowledge in the field of self-financed and transnational education’.

Experience Sharing from Distinguished Overseas Keynote Speakers

Unfortunately, the Former Head of Higher Education Section (UNESCO) and Former Senior Adviser for International Affairs to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (USA), Professor Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić, could not join us because of a family bereavement.

The other keynote speaker, Professor Wendy Thomson CBE, Vice-Chancellor of University of London, talked about changing approaches to quality in higher education and shared her experience in offering diversified programmes.

Insights into Local Educational Practices

During the round-table discussion chaired by Professor William K.M. Lee, Director of HKU SPACE, each of the five local and internationally distinguished speakers addressed different aspects of the topic ‘Cap 320 and its Implementation in Hong Kong’. For instance, Mr Esmond Lee, Deputy Secretary for Education of Education Bureau, talked about the unified regulatory framework under the revamped post-secondary colleges ordinance (Cap. 320). Mr Albert Chow, Executive Director of Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, spoke from the perspective of a quality assurance (QA) agency and described the development of institutional review standards being in line with the Cap. 320 amendments and implementation. Professor Ronald Chung, Dean of the School of Continuing Education of Hong Kong Baptist University, talked about how the self-financing education sector may be maintained with minimum intervention amidst regulatory measures and government support, while Dr Kim Mak, President of the Caritas Institute of Higher Education & Caritas Bianchi College of Careers, spoke of the healthy development of the self-financing post-secondary education sector in Hong Kong. Professor Peter Yuen, Professor and Dean of the College of Professional and Continuing Education of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, delivered a speech about quality issues in the post-secondary education sector and the Cap. 320 revision.

In the afternoon, six parallel sessions took place with distinguished experts, officials, and educators from the local and overseas universities discussing the various aspects of transnational and self-financed education and teaching and learning covering topics such as innovative teaching, policy landscape pertaining to transnational education, simulations in teaching practices, quality assurance issues in transnational and self-financed programmes, and transnational education experience in Hong Kong. 

Making the best use of technology to enhance learning efficiency

The advancement and development of technology have extensively transformed traditional teaching and learning models. In light of the popularity of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies, educators have started to explore the use of these technological innovations to draw students’ attention and increase the engagement of students. Since 2016, HKU SPACE has started to develop VR applications to enhance teaching and learning experiences in our courses for various fields. The conference displayed the results of one such innovative project entitled ‘Air Cargo Screening and Warehouse Management Virtual Reality application’.  The project obtained funding from the Quality Enhancement Support Scheme (QESS) of the Education Bureau. The VR contents enabling multiple users to participate in a simulated environment were developed to enhance the learning experience of students by practising a series of warehouse outbound shipment operations in the Supply Chain Logistics and Transport disciplines. The School’s e-learning unit organised a demonstration of those activities throughout the Conference.

Lastly, the School would like to extend our appreciation to our sponsor, Ms Maisy Ho, BBS, for her generous donation for the development of the Maisy Ho Centre for Teaching and Learning to enhance the quality of teaching and learning and for the Conference as well. We were delighted that Ms Ho was able to attend and present the Outstanding Teachers Awards 2022 to 12 recipients.