NEW SCIENCE students at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) will from next year only need to choose a specialised major in their second year, according to the new dean of science.
Under the current Joint University Programmes Admissions System, secondary school graduates have to choose their departments before they start university.
But from 2007, HKU's faculty of science will introduce the Single Admission Scheme so applicants do not need to decide straight away which science department to enter.
The 400 freshmen will have a common first-year curriculum in which they are required to take certain courses in each of the three blocks, namely quantitative reasoning, the physical world, and live and living.
The courses are provided by different departments in the faculty, giving students an understanding of the various disciplines before they choose a major for the next two years.
'This is a transitional arrangement in preparation for the four-year university academic structure, which starts in 2009,' said Professor Kwok Sun, who assumed the position of faculty dean last month.