One rule won't fit all

With the four-year university education system just round the corner, the University Grants Committee's proposed funding scheme - to be introduced in 2012 - appears to be flawed.

The scheme has two parts. Under the first one, 7.5 per cent of funding to local universities is to be taken away and put into a central pool. Universities can get the funds back (and perhaps more) if their newly proposed academic programmes win the hearts and minds of UGC bureaucrats. The downside is that universities will only propose popular courses - such as tourism and cultural-facility management - that ensure an intake of students. Universities won't consider programmes that provide medium- and long-term benefits to Hong Kong.

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