It is with great pleasure
that I present this foreword for the Annual Report 2002-2003
for the first time as the Chairman of the Council since
my appointment by the Chief Executive in April 2003.
In the ninth year since the inception of
the Institute, the academic year 2002-03 was both fruitful
and eventful. The Institute, being the largest provider
of professionally trained teachers in the tertiary sector
of Hong Kong, has made remarkable progress in maturity
and academic quality.
The Council is particularly glad to have
received the University Grants Committee's (UGC's) Teaching
and Learning Quality Process Review Report in January
2003, which highly commended the fine quality of the
Institute and serves as a testimonial of the progress
it has made. The President will elaborate on this in
his Overview.
In the course of the development of the
Institute, we are also aware of the urgent and important
need to be constantly defining and redefining its role
and position in the ever-changing social context. The
UGC Report on Higher Education in Hong Kong written
by Lord Sutherland published in March 2002 recommended
that tertiary institutions in Hong Kong should develop
and define their roles and mission in order to achieve
differentiation and provide for the community's diverse
needs.
The Council, the staff and students endorse
the need for a diversity of institutions in Hong Kong
with distinctive missions. We also acknowledge the need
for the Institute to plan ahead to address the declining
resource situation. Hence, the Council set up a Task
Force on the Future Development of the Institute in
December 2002. Subsequently, three focus groups were
formed to examine its long term role and positioning,
medium-term and long-term financial and staffing review,
the identification of cost improvement opportunities;
and the Institute's governance structure to ensure strategic
focus, fiscal responsibility and transparency.
While a full report is expected to be produced
by early 2004, I am glad to relay that the Focus Group
on Resources has moved at a faster pace to recommend
the implementation of annual savings of about $60 million
through austerity drives and efficiency gains. It also
drew up a range of staffing related plans such as redeployment,
freezing of vacancies, introduction of a voluntary departure
scheme for non-teaching staff, and in the longer run,
de-linking the staff salary structure from that of the
civil service.
Effective communication is the key to success
in implementing such change plans. Two major rounds
of staff consultation and briefings were held in March
and June, to inform and advise staff and listen to their
views.
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