LET nobody accuse the Education Department of taking the easy option. A law is now being drafted to allow the department to regulate the offering of overseas courses in Hong Kong. This is a brave move, though it comes rather late. About a decade ago I worked on a piece about the depredations of a certain educational organisation which even now I had better not name.
The organiser, like all crooks, was quick with a writ.
The official view at that time was that students buying their education overseas, whether they consumed it there or here, were on their own. The only advice offered to potential buyers of unofficial offerings in Hong Kong was 'caveat emptor'. As few local students speak Latin this was not terribly helpful.
On the other hand, the job of sorting the wheat from the chaff in distant educational offerings is extremely difficult.
This week's newspapers suggested the department would rely on the 'accreditation authorities and academic communities in their home countries'.
That sounds nice. But the object of the exercise is supposed to be provision of sensible guidance to consumers about standards. And nobody supposes that the 'accreditation authorities and academic communities' in different counties all operate the same standards.
