Mong Kok college loses subsidy
Nine of the courses offered by a Mong Kok private education institution have been disqualified from the government Continuing Education Fund (CEF) subsidy scheme because of the school's poor management.
But students who are taking the courses are still eligible for government subsidies, while those who have applied for courses can expect a full refund of fees, the school has promised.
In question are nine of the courses offered by the West Coast College in Mong Kok. The courses are on logistics, languages, business and commerce, and China law. At least 50 students were reportedly affected.
The Labour and Welfare Bureau yesterday announced that the nine courses were deregistered because the college had failed to comply with the conditions of registration.
A staff member at the college yesterday said the authorities were not happy with the filing of students' records. 'The authorities said some files about students' graduation dates or examination dates had not been properly kept. In this respect, there was some imperfection about our management.'
A bureau spokeswoman agreed that the disqualification had nothing to do with teaching quality.
'If the courses have not yet begun, the college must refund in full all course fees and related payments to the applicants,' the spokeswoman said. 'The college must not accept new applications and must not promote them as CEF reimbursable courses. ' said the spokeswoman.
'For those who are in the middle of a course, they can still apply for reimbursement,' she said.
Set up in 2002, the CEF scheme subsidises adults who pursue continuing education.
