Defending self-financing post-secondary sector

Lam Wai-leung ("Self-financing colleges not monitored", December 30) is again putting forward views that are less than fair to the self-financing sector, as he did in these columns in December 2012.

He is wrong to claim that the self-financing post-secondary education sector does not offer enough variety. The sector offers over 90 degree programmes distributed quite evenly between arts (21.7 per cent), social sciences (26.1 per cent), business (29.4 per cent) and science and technology (22.8 per cent). This spread is found in the Open University, Chu Hai College of Higher Education, and the Vocational Training Council's Technological and Higher Education Institute (THEi). And among the others, there is specialisation but not all in the same area. Thus, Hang Seng Management College offers business studies and Tung Wah College health-related ones, while Shue Yan University and Centennial College concentrate on liberal arts.

There is another differentiation worth mentioning in this context and this is that my own institution, THEi, adopts a "learn and do", rather than the usual academic, approach to education, with vocationally oriented programmes developed with significant industry help. Many of our programmes are in areas not served well or at all by other tertiary institutions.

The contention that government intervention will lead to the right balance of programmes assumes that governments have the answer. All-knowing governments are rare and if the self-financing institutions get it wrong, students will vote with their feet. And even if our government has the answer, how is it going to implement it?

The implied criticism that the quality of self-financing programmes is poor because its students would be at risk is questionable. All programmes have to be accredited by a statutory body, the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ).

Only then can they be displayed on the government's Information Portal for Accredited Post-secondary Programmes, which is essential for persuading students to enrol, and students obtaining grants or loans from the government's Financial Assistance Scheme for Post-secondary Students. The HKCAAVQ is more than able to defend itself and all I want to say is that its approach and process to assess programmes are thorough and vigorous, with the membership of its accreditation panels consisting of senior academics from overseas and local universities and industry representatives, all skilled in quality assurance work.