Hong Kong universities to get HK$165 million in grants to develop better online teaching methods

The University Grants Committee notes online teaching was widely adopted during the coronavirus pandemic, and is expected to remain in use even after it ends

The committee oversees funding for Hong Kong’s eight publicly funded universities

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Eight publicly funded Hong Kong universities are to receive millions in grants for developing better online teaching methods. Photo: Nora Tam

Published: 7:52pm, 21 Jan 2021Updated: 11:03pm, 21 Jan 2021

Eight Hong Kong universities are in line for grants totalling HK$165 million (US$21.3 million) aimed at developing better virtual teaching methods, which are anticipated to become part of the “new normal” in coming years.

Online teaching was widely adopted amid the coronavirus pandemic as schools suspended face-to-face classes for months at a time to avoid infections. But the University Grants Committee (UGC), which funds the city’s public institutions of higher education, noted along with its Quality Assurance Council (QAC) on Thursday that they believed schools would continue to make use of virtual methods to enhance teaching and learning even after the pandemic ended.

The additional HK$165 million would be allocated to the eight universities funded by the committee to facilitate more systematic collaboration to promote the strategic development of virtual teaching and learning, a spokesman said.

The grants are intended to encourage universities to collaborate to enrich students’ learning experience, among other things. Photo: Winson Wong

The universities were encouraged to deploy the funding to implement a range of project initiatives, the spokesman added, including the development of assessment methods and educators’ skills, as well as means for enriching the overall virtual learning experience – for instance, by encouraging interaction among students during online classes.

“While the pandemic has brought about immense challenges to teaching and learning on one hand, it has also offered opportunities for transformation on the other,” committee chairman Carlson Tong Ka-shing said.

“The UGC and the QAC hope that the additional funding will catalyse innovative and strategic thinking among our universities, and prepare them for the ever-changing teaching and learning environment as well as their development needs under the ‘new normal’.”