The new system would involve three years of junior secondary, three years of senior secondary before university
Pressure is mounting for the introduction of four-year university degrees by 2009, rather than 2013, as originally proposed by the Education Commission.
About 100 academics will discuss the idea of bringing in the four-year structure earlier at a forum on ways forward for tertiary sector tomorrow.
An organiser of the event, Kwok Yue-kuen, chairman of the Society of Hong Kong Scholars and an associate professor of mathematics at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said he would present arguments in favour of introducing the new system - involving three years of junior secondary, three years of senior secondary education, and the four-year university - in 2009.
'We cannot wait too long,' he said, adding that 2009 would be the earliest possible date to introduce the new undergraduate format.
'Parents would need to be told about any changes at least three years before, and to get the first batch of students in 2009, Form Fours would have to start in 2006. It would take at least one to two years to figure out the new curriculum. It's now 2003 and I don't think we can accelerate any faster,' he said.