A leading educator has called on the government to ease immigration restrictions to encourage more overseas students to study in Hong Kong.Speaking at a meeting of the Federation for Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions, Hong Kong Institute of Education research and development vice president Cheng Yin-cheong said the SAR lags far behind Singapore which has 73,000 foreign students in its institutions, compared with around 10,000 here.
Cheng said despite having half the population, Singapore offers 43,000 government-funded degree places compared with 50,000 in Hong Kong.
He said even Hong Kong's projection of 50,000 to 100,000 self-funded non- local students by 2015 trailed Singapore's aggressive planned admission of more than 150,000 international students by 2012.
Cheng yesterday urged the government to remove restrictions, such as students not being allowed to work, in order to raise Hong Kong's image as an international center of learning.
An Education Department spokesman said the government is currently engaged in a dialogue with its mainland counterpart on this issue.
Speaking at the same meeting, Secretary for Education Michael Suen Ming-yeung said there will be a strong demand for post-secondary education over the next decade.
Suen said 2012 will be a doubly important year because it will see the graduation of the last batch of Secondary Seven students under the old structure and the first group of new Secondary Six students.
"The post
-secondary education sector will have to gear itself up for the changes and challenges ahead." The self-financing sector may play an important role in the provision of higher education, he added, with the government encouraging diversification.
There are more than 1,200 non-local higher education and professional programs with more than 30,000 students.
"We will also explore the possibility of allowing mainland students to enrol in non-local courses at degree or above level," Suen said.
"We also hope to attract more world- renowned institutions to offer courses in Hong Kong."
Deputy Secretary for Education Michelle Li Mei-sheung said the government is now seeking suitable land sites for private universities.
