Blog 3: Hong Kong University Expands

Jordan Rolph
February 3, 2011
2:45 p.m.

Starting September 2012, Hong Kong University is planning on transforming their campus to a four-year program instead of just a three-year program, in order to prepare their students more for the world. There will be hundreds of new lectures added, thousands of new students, and a whole new curriculum. Hong Kong University is having problems finding space due to the dense population of the city. The students will spend six years in high school, rather than seven, to then embark on a four-year undergraduate program by the time they turn eighteen. The university is trying to shape its liberal education to one like the United States. The Hong Kong government also plans to give students who have completed an associate degree to complete an undergraduate degree. The government is going to finance about half of the development and the university is raising money for the remainder. Their plan is to build for the future and prepare their students for the global world. Kenneth Young of the Chinese University of Hong Kong said, “Ultimately, one of the most important things is to use this opportunity to change the way education is delivered from a very traditional, didactic mode to a much more student-directed mode.” The university wants to also prepare their students to deal with challenges posed by globalization. Therefore, students will be required to take more general educational courses so that they get an overall view of different subjects and areas.

I think it is great that Hong Kong has recognized that they need to make a change and aren’t afraid to do something about it. They are looking out for their students and future generations instead of making excuses about money and land availability. The world needs to start giving kids the opportunity to be educated and empowered. Also, I love how in this article they mention globalization. Hong Kong University wants to give their students a broad education so that they know more subjects than just the field their getting their degree in.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/31/world/asia/31iht-educLede31.html?pagewanted=1&ref=internationaleducation