SED attends APAIE 2024 Conference and Exhibition in Australia (with photos)
6.3.2024

The Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, today (March 6, Perth time) attended the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) 2024 Conference and Exhibition in Perth, Australia, and exchanged views with international higher education leaders on the theme of the APAIE this year, "Collaborating for sustainable impact: partnerships across the Asia Pacific". In her speech at the "Study in Hong Kong" Seminar, Dr Choi promoted to overseas partners the advantages of Hong Kong as an international post-secondary education hub. She said that Hong Kong possesses unique charms as a vibrant, highly livable and diverse cosmopolitan city where east meets west. Also, Hong Kong is the only city in the world with five publicly-funded universities within the world's top 100. The higher education sector in Hong Kong is highly diverse and world-renowned with about one out of five students and two-thirds of academic staff coming from more than 100 countries or places outside Hong Kong, making Hong Kong an ideal destination for further studies. She pointed out that with support from national policies, co-operation of Hong Kong higher education in developing the "eight centres", substantial investment by the Government and joint efforts by industries, unprecedented development prospects in various fields are available to local and overseas students. In addition, with the double advantages of enjoying the strong support of the Motherland and being closely connected to the world, Hong Kong has gathered a pool of talent and plenty of resources, offering many collaboration and exchange opportunities and innovation platforms. She emphasised that the Government is sparing no effort to achieve the goal of building Hong Kong into an international post-secondary education hub and fully supports local universities to strengthen collaboration and connection with education institutions around the world on student exchanges and academic research. The Secretary-General of the University Grants Committee (UGC), Professor James Tang, also addressed the Seminar. He shared the advantages and latest developments of the UGC-funded universities in teaching and learning as well as research, including the UGC's Fund for Innovative Technology-in-Education launched last year with $100 million to encourage universities to apply artificial intelligence in transforming pedagogies and enriching student learning experiences. In the Research Assessment Exercise 2020, around 80 per cent of impact case studies were rated as "outstanding" or "considerable", the two highest levels. These examples attest to the determination of Hong Kong's higher education sector to do high-quality and impactful research. In addition, Professor Tang focused on analysing the prospects of regional cooperation between Hong Kong's higher education sector and countries of the Belt and Road Initiative and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, as well as Hong Kong's role as the core engine of regional development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, emphasising that Hong Kong is the top choice for students from all over the world in terms of teaching quality and career development opportunities. Dr Choi visited the Hong Kong Pavilion, which was set up by the Heads of Universities Committee Standing Committee on Internationalisation and funded by the UGC, to learn about the proactive work of the publicly-funded universities in expanding their international network as well as their promotion for recruiting students from more places to undertake further studies in Hong Kong following the Government's announcement last October on increasing the non-local student quota of the universities. In addition, she toured various booths at the exhibition, including the one set up by the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority to promote the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination to representatives of overseas universities. She also exchanged views with representatives from different countries and places on the development and promotion of post-secondary education. Dr Choi began her visit to Australia on March 3 (Sydney time) and met Hong Kong students studying in Sydney to learn about their studies in Australia. She also encouraged them to develop their careers in Hong Kong after graduation. On March 4 (Sydney time), Dr Choi paid a courtesy call on the Acting Consul General of the People's Republic of China in Sydney, Mr Wang Chunsheng, to brief him on the latest education developments in Hong Kong. She later met the Minister for Skills, TAFE and Tertiary Education of New South Wales, Mr Steve Whan. They discussed various educational issues such as higher education cooperation between Hong Kong and Australia, promotion of vocational and professional education and training, and development of universities of applied sciences. On March 5 (Sydney time), Dr Choi visited the University of Sydney and met its leadership. They exchanged views on recruiting and supporting international students, developing applied degree programmes, and training for primary and secondary school teachers on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education. Dr Choi will continue her trip to Perth tomorrow (March 7, Perth time) and depart for Melbourne on March 8 (Perth time).