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CITY University of Hong Kong is to introduce a flexible fee payment scheme, allowing new full-time students to pay an initial fee of only 10 per cent of their annual fees instead of half.

  The move follows last week's Executive Council decision to uphold its 1991 proposal for tertiary institute's tuition fees to cover 18 per cent of education costs.

  Full-time degree course tuition will jump from this year's $30,750 to $37,350 and sub-degree courses from $23,065 to $28,200, increases of more than 20 per cent. By the year 2000, first-year undergraduates will have to pay $51,650.

  A CityU spokesman said the student affairs office consulted Student Union representatives, then met the registrar and finance office this week to discuss measures to ease the financial difficulties for students.

  From September, new students would pay 10 per cent of fees, not the usual half, he said.

  It is common practice at local universities for students to pay 50 per cent of their annual fees at registration. They must pay the balance at the beginning of the second semester.

  In addition, government student grant and loan schemes will not entertain applications until students have registered, forcing students to gather the funds from their own resources.

  Under CityU's scheme, students have five weeks after registration to pay a further 40 per cent of fees. The other half must be paid at the beginning of the second semester in February.

  Roslyn Li Hung Wai-yee, CityU's senior student affairs officer overseeing student financial assistance applications, criticised the Government's grant and loan schemes, saying they only took into account students' financial status during previous years and were not geared to deal with students' urgent needs which suddenly cropped up.

  'Most of the applications for financial assistance this year were caused by parents becoming unemployed. It was exceptionally serious this year. Students needed emergency funds.'    'About 300 undergraduates at the university received bursaries of on average $5,000 to $5,600 from our funds and about 100 students received emergency funds last year.'  The university will lose over $490,000 in interest under the new scheme.

  Hong Kong Polytechnic University allows students to apply for a delay in submitting their fee.

  Eight CityU students staged an all-night sit-in in front of the Government Central Office on Monday night in protest at the rise in fees. Representatives from the Hong Kong Federation of Students later tried to hand Governor Chris Patten a petition, but he refused to receive the letter personally.

  Federation representative Suen Chee-tak said: 'We are considering more severe action such as not paying the fee at all next academic year.' 



CityU introduces flexible payment scheme for fees