They say several requests for a meeting over funding cuts have been ignored
University staff have accused education chief Arthur Li Kwok-cheung of snubbing them. They say he has ignored requests to meet them since he took up the ministerial post last August and claim they are being denied a voice in funding arrangements for the sector.
The criticism follows the government's plan to cut funding for the sector by 10 per cent next year as well as withdraw support for sub-degree and taught postgraduate programmes. In addition, salaries are being cut six per cent in line with civil service pay cuts. Chairman of the Federation of Higher Education Staff Associations Shum Kar-ping said they had not heard from Professor Li despite several requests over the past months for a meeting. The umbrella group for university unions is trying again to arrange a meeting.
'He has not met with any university staff union either,'' said Professor Shum, a mathematics professor at Chinese University of Hong Kong. 'If he refuses to meet us, then we will seek a meeting with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa and express our views on the budget issue to him directly.''
Fourteen university staff and student unions turned up at an education panel meeting at the Legislative Council this week to present their views on the cuts. But Professor Li did not attend and few legislators turned up. In attendance instead were Deputy Secretary for Education and Manpower Philip Chok Kin-fun, who said the 10 per cent cut was only a preliminary suggestion, and secretary-general of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Peter Cheung Po-tak.
'We can withstand a 10 per cent cut in salary but further cuts would have long-term effects on Hong Kong. Legislators and Professor Li should have listened to the opposing views,'' Professor Shum said.
In a letter issued to the UGC, the Heads of Universities Committee expressed worries over possible further cuts in 2005-2008. The chiefs also wrote: 'We are saddened by the process by which decisions have been made and the resulting severity of the cuts that are likely to be imposed.' They believed these would have 'extremely negative effects' on their capacity to help the government achieve its goal of transforming Hong Kong into a knowledge-based society.
