The study found spending was up 20 per cent compared with three years ago, although inflation and currency exchange may have played a role.

The HKU Space Centre for Research in Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning asked 1,506 students aged between 18 and 64 who were not enrolled in full-time degree courses which courses they had taken in the past year.

Seventy per cent of the respondents were employed. Of the 377 continuing learners, 55 per cent paid the tuition fees out of their own pockets and each learner spent an average of about HK$11,500 on courses, a 20 per cent increase on the last survey which was carried out in 2005. Thirty per cent said they had studied with financial support from the Continuing Education Fund.

Of the people who took up classes last year, 55 per cent opted for short-term courses, 34 per cent signed up for certificate and diploma courses and 5 per cent joined degree and postgraduate programmes.

Enoch Young Chien-ming, chief adviser to the HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education, said the increase in expenditure on studying could be attributed to inflation and currency fluctuations.

'The expenditure on continuing education has risen sharply over the past two years,' he said.

'Many courses are now jointly offered by local and overseas institutions. The steep hike in foreign currency exchange rates has led to the increase in tuition fees.'

The survey revealed that language and information technology courses were the most popular, attracting 21 per cent and 13 per cent of students respectively. Business management courses came in third at 9 per cent.

More than 40 per cent said they took the courses 'out of personal interest', with 36 per cent citing 'to improve work capabilities' as the reason for continuing their education.

Professor Young said the international status of Hong Kong boosted local demand for language courses.

'Hong Kong is a global cosmopolitan city. Being mutilingual is very important for career advancement or personal communication. That's why language courses have always been very popular,' he said.

Professor Young said Hong Kong was quickly catching up with western countries in terms of the level of participation in continuing education.

'On average, 30 per cent of the adult population in advanced countries are continuing learners. The rate for European countries is even higher as the governments provide quite a lot of subsidies for people to pursue continuing learning. With growing awareness of continuing learning among locals, Hong Kong is fast evolving into a knowledge-based economy.'

Among those who said they had not taken up any learning programmes, they cited 'no free time' (66 per cent), 'not necessary to further studies' (21 per cent) and 'too busy in work' (20 per cent) as reasons for not enrolling in further education. Professor Young said Hong Kong people's long working hours and heavy workloads precluded many from pursuing continuing studies.

'To further encourage people, the government should loosen the application requirements of the Continuing Education Fund, instead of confining them to only an application for HK$10,000 in learning subsidies in their lifetime,' he said, adding that employers could allow employees to take 'study holidays' and work flexible hours.

In for the long haul

More Hong Kongers are realising the value of lifelong learning

The percentage of continuing education students who took language courses at HKU Space: 21