Without setting arbitrary pass-fail standards, the assessments will be similar to regular UGC reviews Sub-degree programmes are to be subject to more rigorous scrutiny under a combined government-university body. University chiefs agreed to set up the Joint Quality Review Committee at a meeting this month, in response to the rising number of sub-degree programmes offered by continuing-education arms at universities. The assessments will be similar to the teaching and learning quality process review undertaken regularly by the University Grants Committee on government-funded institutions, but there will be no adjudication on whether a programme passes or fails a certain standard. The new committee will report directly to the Heads of Universities Committee (Hucom), and is due to review four institutions next year, with the target of having most self-financed sub-degree programmes examined by 2007-2008. Hucom convenor Hong Kong Institute of Education president Paul Morris said it was also worth examining the award titles, levels and credits earned by various programmes, which were unclear to the public. Professor Enoch Young Chien-ming, chairman of the Federation of Continuing Education in Tertiary Institutions and director of the University of Hong Kong's School of Professional and Continuing Education, believes it will help increase the transparency of quality assurance mechanisms. 'The sector has expanded rapidly in the past few years. There needs to be a separate body doing the review since the UGC focuses on degree courses,' he said. But he described as odd the government's lack of funding for the sub-degree sector. He also urged the government to review the overall development of higher education in Hong Kong. 'It is unfair that only degree places are subsidised by the government. There should not be such distinction between sub-degree and degree places. The 840 second year degree places allocated in the coming triennium for sub-degree graduates will also fail to meet the demand.' A total of 20 private institutions and universities are offering about 14,000 self-financed sub-degree places this year, up from last year's 12,000. HKU Space, one of the largest providers of sub-degree places, has 4,500 students enrolled in its community college, with an intake of 2,000 in September. Courses offered by private providers were assessed by the Hong Kong Council for Academic Accreditation. Due to the expansion in the sub-degree sector, the percentage of school leavers with access to tertiary education has climbed to 53 per cent from last year's 48 per cent, according to the Education and Manpower Bureau. Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa pledged to achieve a 60 per cent participation rate by the end of this decade.