Universities go all-out to win over best brains
The race for the best brains is on. Universities are ratcheting up the search for top international talent in a bid to cast the city as a world-class centre of learning.
The University of Hong Kong hosted the second round of its 'Taster Days' last week, inviting 70 students from top secondary schools in 10 Asian countries to tour its facilities.
'We want to promote a fun and interactive approach to Hong Kong,' said Daphne Wong, the programme's co-ordinator.
Passorn Tungkavichitwat, 17, from Thailand's Ratchasima Wittayalai School, enjoyed the international aspect of Hong Kong. She added: 'This was my first time in Hong Kong. It was more interesting than I thought.'
Since the mid-2000s, the Hong Kong government has implemented a package of measures to attract outstanding students, creating a billion-dollar scholarship fund and increasing the number of places available to international students at public universities from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.
University officials attribute the increase in the number of applicants from abroad to the draw of China's booming economy, and the greater chance for employment upon graduation. 'People see their futures here,' said John Spinks, senior advisor to the vice-chancellor at HKU.
Still, university officials agree there's more to be done, with some asking for a further relaxing of the quota. Others lament a lack of the kind of buzz surrounding traditional education destinations like the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia.
'Hong Kong has not done any brand-building in education,' said Euphemia Chow, from Hong Kong Science and Technology University. 'People still associate Hong Kong with Disneyland and Jackie Chan but not with top universities,' added the assistant director for non-local recruitment and admission.
'You can find good-quality degrees in good universities here, but the tuitions and the cost of living are significantly lower. That's our competitive edge.'
HKUST has an outreach programme, inviting international students each autumn to sit in different classes. For the 2010-11 academic year, the university reached the 20 per cent quota for the first time, with 360 of the 1,800 new undergraduates being non-locals.
'The natural trend is to recruit half of the students from mainland China and half from the rest of the world,' said Chow. Times Higher Education ranks Hong Kong University first in Asia.
'Not many people actually know about the quality of Hong Kong's higher institutions,' said Peter Li, director of the international office at Hong Kong Baptist University.
