A year ago, I wrote in this column that 'as Hong Kong aspires to be a regional education hub, we should rethink the essence of university education and ask: what kind of excellence do we want to groom?'
At a recent presidents' summit convened by the University of Hong Kong, in celebration of its centenary, participating university leaders explored the future of universities. I co-chaired the panel discussion on 'Mass Education vs Elite Education' and it was astounding as to the level of concern expressed about the current dilemmas of universities in countries in both the East and West.
Is our university education now of a 'mass' or 'elite' nature? The world trend is certainly moving to a less elite and more mass higher education in terms of access. In Asia, South Korea has an admission rate of over 80 per cent while Taiwan even has more university places than needed. Hong Kong's publicly funded higher education system may still be of an elite nature, but the government's target rate of 60 per cent post-secondary enrolment has been more than met.
Mass higher education seems unavoidable because of the demands of a knowledge economy, the call for social mobility and the need to groom an educated citizenry. Getting into university has become a norm or basic right for young people. Even in more elite systems like the British and Australian ones, new universities have mushroomed over the past two decades.
In Hong Kong, fast-growing numbers of associate degree graduates now demand the opportunity to advance to degree education. Unable or unwilling to invest more in publicly funded places, the government expects private universities and colleges to fill the gap.
Yet, ironically, most stakeholders (the government, employers and parents) have continued to expect an elite type of higher education. The popularity of world-class university rankings in the wave of internationalisation has put pressure on many universities to compete according to criteria set by the 'best' research universities, which are well endowed with funding and academic legacies. They are expected to become 'elite' universities and rank high in international league tables.
This is an impossible mission, given the limited resources available. There is growing tension between expectations and reality.