Maturity and advancement
The academic year 2002-03 will go down in the Institute's history as a landmark. After nine years of intensive development, we have reached a new stage of maturity that has been recognised by the University Grants Committee (UGC).

The UGC commissioned an international panel to conduct a Teaching and Learning Quality Process Review (TLQPR) in June 2002 and their report stated:

The Panel feels that HKIEd has now reached a point of maturity where internal quality assurance and improvement processes are operating at a level that provides confidence in the quality of its programmes and graduates. (TLQPR 2003)

The Panel commended our robust and comprehensive internal systems which ensure a strong and unwavering commitment to quality control and assurance.

The success of this exercise moves us closer to becoming a self-accrediting university-level institution which was the goal of Education Commission Report No.5 and has been central to the Institute's planning. An Institutional Review, to decide whether we are self-accrediting, constitutes the final step in the process of upgrading. The UGC decided in early 2003 to embark on such a Review.

The achievement of self-accrediting status is necessary not only to enhance the status and professionalisation of teaching in Hong Kong, but also to allow us to compete more effectively with other institutions and respond more flexibly to meet the ever-changing needs of the community. Unfortunately the Review was delayed by the SARS outbreak, and was rescheduled for October 2003.

High employment in a tough environment
We endeavour to ensure that our graduates are well equipped to obtain employment upon graduation. Their employment injects new energy into the profession, supports curriculum reform and serves as a testimonial to the effectiveness and relevance of the programmes we offer.

Despite a declining school age population, especially in the primary school sector, our employment survey completed in early 2003 revealed that 95% of our 2002 graduates had secured a job or were pursuing further studies. Amongst them, the highest employment rate (98%) was for the first cohort of our Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Primary) Programme.

Within the reporting year, we conducted a study in which 385 school principals who had employed our 2001 and 2002 graduates were surveyed. This revealed that they were generally satisfied with our graduates' performance and, in particular, were highly appreciative of those attributes they deemed as most important for teachers, namely a sense of responsibility, a willingness to learn, an enthusiastic working attitude, effective use of Chinese in the classroom, the ability to work collaboratively, and their knowledge of the major subjects they taught.