Coronavirus: heads of eight universities in Hong Kong to donate part of salaries to help cover costs during pandemic

President and vice-presidents at five institutions pledge to give back 10 per cent of their pay for 12 months, with some of the funds going to needy students

But City University, whose top management will also make donations, warns of possible salary freeze given drop in income and repairs after protest vandalism

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Students wearing face masks at the campus of the University of Hong Kong in Pok Fu Lam earlier this month. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 10:30pm, 18 Apr 2020Updated: 11:53am, 19 Apr 2020

The heads of at least eight Hong Kong universities said they would donate part of their salaries to support school operations and help students in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

Among them is City University, which also warned of a salary freeze for staff next year given its drop in revenue and revealed it was seeking loans to cover the cost of repairing damage to the campus during the months-long anti-government protests.

The president and vice-presidents at the University of Hong Kong, Polytechnic, Lingnan, Education and Open universities said they would donate 10 per cent of their salaries for a year.

“The pandemic has been seriously affecting all businesses, and we are particularly concerned with the financial challenges faced by some of our students and their families due to the current situation,” said PolyU president Professor Teng Jin-guang.

Polytechnic University president Professor Teng Jin-guang surveys the damage to the campus after the occupation by protesters last November. Photo: Dickson Lee

The highest annual salaries across all universities is between HK$4.65 and HK$7.65 million (US$600,000 to US$987,000), according to their financial reports for 2017/18. All the institutions except Open University receive annual government funding from the University Grants Committee, covering about half their total income.