Hong Kong

Hong Kong in a nutshell

Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south.

It has a population of 7 million people but only 1,108 km2 (428 sq mi) of land, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Beginning as a trading port, Hong Kong became a dependent territory of the United Kingdom in 1842, and remained so until transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China in 1997. Along with Macao, Hong Kong is one of the two special administrative regions under the "one country, two systems" policy. As a result, Hong Kong is largely self-governing, has its own currency, legal and political systems, a high degree of autonomy in all areas except foreign affairs and defence and is generally not considered part of mainland China.

Renowned for its expansive skyline and natural setting, Hong Kong is one of the world's leading financial capitals, a major business and cultural hub, and maintains a highly developed capitalist economy. Its identity as a cosmopolitan centre where east meets west is reflected in its cuisine, cinema, music and traditions, and although the population is predominantly Chinese, residents and expatriates of other ethnicities form a small but significant segment of society.

Hong Kong education system

Hong Kong's education system roughly follows the system in England (in the UK), although at the higher education levels, both English and American systems exist. The medium of instruction is mainly spoken Cantonese, written Chinese and English, but Mandarin language education has been increasing. PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, has ranked Hong Kong's education system as the second best in the world.

Hong Kong's public schools are operated by the Education Bureau. The system features a non-compulsory three-year kindergarten, followed by a compulsory six-year primary education, a three-year junior secondary education, a non-compulsory two-year senior secondary education leading to the Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examinations, and a two-year matriculation course leading to the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examinations. Most comprehensive schools in Hong Kong fall under three categories: the rarer public schools; the more common subsidised schools, including government aids and grant schools; and private schools, often run by Christian organisations and having admissions based on academic merit rather than on financial resources. Outside this system are the schools under the Direct Subsidy Scheme and private international schools.

Higher education

There are nine public universities in Hong Kong, and a number of private higher institutions, offering various bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees, other higher diplomas and associate degree courses.

Universities in Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong, the oldest institution of tertiary education in territory, was referred by Quacquarelli Symonds as a "world-class comprehensive research university" and was ranked 26th on the 2008 THES - QS World University Rankings [78] , making it 3rd in Asia (after only to University of Tokyo and Kyoto University). The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology and Chinese University of Hong Kong are ranked 39 and 42 respectively, making them ranked 5th and 6th respectively in Asia.

Higher education reform

The Bologna Process

(very important for European countries)

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

Most Hong Kong universities have considerable on-campus e-learning activity but say that students are reluctant to study off-campus via e-learning.

However, there is an active Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK) and a CyberU branch of one of the more commercially minded universities, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Moves towards distance teaching on the mainland are likely to encourage Hong Kong universities to quickly develop online capability.

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

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See also Macao and China.

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