Tung Chee-hwa's plan to provide 60 per cent of secondary school graduates with access to higher education came after a close study of Singapore's system.
An important influence, according to one government source, was the visit of the city-state's Education Minister, Teo Chee Hean, to the SAR on July 7 last year.
The source said that during the meeting, Mr Teo and Mr Tung discussed the respective educational systems of Hong Kong and Singapore, with Mr Teo pointing out that about 60 per cent of secondary school graduates went on to higher education in Singapore and that the target for the coming year was 70 per cent.
Mr Tung was, the source said, 'astonished' to learn that the island republic had been able to achieve such results with roughly the same portion of gross domestic product allocated to education. Current government expenditure on education is about $45 billion, or about four per cent of GDP.
According to a study by the International Institute for Management Development, education expenditure accounted for 2.67 per cent of Hong Kong's GDP in 1997, while the proportion in Singapore was 2.75 per cent.
At present, only 18 per cent of 18 to 20-year-olds in the SAR are admitted to university. Including those students studying overseas, 34 per cent receive tertiary education.
'Mr Tung was somewhat discontented with the low enrolment ratio of higher education in Hong Kong, asking education officials why and urging them to do something about it. The 60 per cent target is really Mr Tung's brainchild,' the source said.
