Graduates not up to overseas standards
This is the sixth in our series of SCMP/TNS opinion leader surveys on the city's key socioeconomic and public policy issues, each based on findings of a specially commissioned survey by TNS, the world's leading custom research and market information provider. Some surveys' findings will underpin a series of high-level briefings, with a 'white paper' from each to be presented to the government in a spirit of constructive engagement; Survey of business leaders finds vast majority rank European or North American students more highly in analytical skills
Hong Kong's most influential business and opinion leaders believe graduates from local universities lack vital skills and compare poorly with those who have studied overseas, a survey has found.
Less than one in five of the 698 questioned in the SCMP/TNS Opinion Leaders Survey were confident that Hong Kong's graduates possessed 'sufficient and relevant skills' across a range of categories and they rated graduates from North America and Europe, and to a lesser extent Australia, as superior in most areas of skills and attitudes measured in the poll.
While almost half believed Hong Kong's university graduates had sufficient numeric skills, only 16 per cent said they had adequate skills in analytical thinking. More than half said the graduates lacked international understanding, 39 per cent said they lacked Putonghua skills, and at least 40 per cent believed they did not have effective interpersonal or leadership skills, or creativity. Only 11 per cent of respondents said Hong Kong graduates had sufficient English skills.
David Dodwell, convenor of the Business Coalition on Education, was not surprised by the results.
'More than anything else, this comes back to a city that is inevitably not well equipped to supply the needs of a highly specialised, largely service-driven economy,' he said.
This was not unique to Hong Kong - major corporations in London or New York would not be able to rely on schools and universities in those cities alone for their employees, but drew from a much wider pool. The poll, he said, reflected the needs of employers to bring in people from outside Hong Kong with appropriate skills.
The only area where respondents ranked Hong Kong graduates higher than European and North American graduates was numeric skills.
The majority of respondents considered graduates from European and Northern American universities to be 'much better' or 'slightly better' than local graduates.
Sixty-three per cent of respondents rated graduates of European universities more highly than local graduates while 60 per cent believed North American graduates outperformed those from Hong Kong universities.
Respondents were less impressed with the performance of Australian graduates compared with those from Europe and North America. More than 40 per cent said Australian graduates were better than their Hong Kong counterparts while 39 per cent said they were of a similar standard to local graduates.
The respondents were evenly divided in how they rated HK and mainland graduates, with 36 per cent considering Hong Kong graduates better and 38 per cent rating mainland graduates as more capable.
Mr Dodwell said: 'Clearly you have a high level of concern about international understanding and English as essential parts of the skills set of graduates. There is reason to be concerned that local schools are often not equipped to give future leaders the sort of international perception they will need for the internationally orientated organisations we have here.'
The survey also highlighted the unusual role played by English Schools Foundation and international schools, which were seen as indispensable for ordinary people, Mr Dodwell said.
'As drivers for internationalisation and a pool of English-language speakers they reflect concerns about the quality of education.'
The results surprised Wong Yuk-shan, vice-president for administration and business at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
'The quality of local graduates is not bad. While those from overseas may be better in languages, Hong Kong graduates have a lot of potential,' he said.
Education reforms would nurture more rounded students, while universities promoted exchange programmes to broaden the horizons of local students, he added.
Paul Tam Kwong-hang, pro-vice-chancellor at the University of Hong Kong, said the best students in Hong Kong were comparable to the best in the UK, where he had taught for more than 10 years. However, universities should reflect on the survey results, he said.
