In 2016/17, the University further diversified its Bachelor of Education (BEd) programmes in secondary education, with the launch of three University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded five-year education programmes, namely the Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Chinese History, Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Science, and Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Geography. The new programmes added breadth to the existing subject areas of English and Chinese speaking languages, mathematics, history, business, accounting and financial studies, and information and communication technology, as the University strives to nurture more secondary school teachers in a wide range of subjects to meet future demand arising from projected demographic changes.

Also launched during the year was a new UGC-funded four-year Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Special Education programme for students who wish to become competent practitioners in schools and community settings to help people with special educational needs (SEN). And to equip students with the skills to teach Chinese to non-Chinese speaking students, the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Teaching Chinese as a Second Language was offered as a new full-time senior year programme. Other new offerings included three UGC-funded co-terminal double degree programmes, namely Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Arts and Culture and Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Music; Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Arts and Culture and Bachelor of Education (Honours) in Visual Arts; and Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Language Studies and Bachelor of Education (Honours) in English Language. 

With the vision and mission set out in the University’s Strategic Plan 2016-2025, refinements in the common core curriculum of undergraduate programmes were implemented in 2016/17 to enrich students’ learning experience. These included the new Positive and Values Education (PAVE) strand, under the General Education Breadth Course Domain, to strengthen students’ positive character and values. A credit-bearing Chinese language enhancement course was introduced in the same year with revamped contents, including topics such as classical and contemporary Chinese literary work, moral, affective and critical thinking, as well as practical workplace Chinese.

In parallel, a holistic curriculum review of BEd programmes has been underway since September 2016 with the objectives of driving interdisciplinary development, providing more space and flexibility for student learning, and nurturing quality educators and professionals in response to emerging community needs. The new BEd curriculum is targeted for implementation from 2019/20 onwards.

The University was commended by the Quality Assurance Council (QAC) under the UGC in its Quality Audit Report released in June 2017. The Report acknowledged the great strides and remarkable progress the University had made since the first QAC Quality Audit Report in 2011. In terms of learning and teaching, the highlights of the QAC report are as follows:

• The Audit Panel commended EdUHK’s commitment as an institution and the mechanisms it has put in place to create a quality culture, distinguished by the value it places on evidence-led enhancement.
• The Panel commended EdUHK’s well-documented, comprehensive and thorough approach to academic standards and to its strategic and systematic use of external reference points to validate academic standards and enhance University processes.
• The Panel commended EdUHK on the effectiveness of its assessment processes and its ePortfolio initiatives as a distinctive feature of undergraduate education at EdUHK.
• The Panel commended EdUHK’s commitment to the internationalisation of the student learning experience, curriculum and the University.
• The Panel formed the view that EdUHK is uniquely placed in the UGC sector to take a stronger, more innovative, pedagogical lead in e-learning. The Panel affirmed our bolder initiatives and the more ambitious approach embodied in the new Learning and Teaching Plan (2016-19) to enhancing students’ e-learning.
• The Panel was impressed by EdUHK’s commitment to delivering high-quality learning opportunities at the undergraduate level to support whole person development through a broad range of formal and non-formal learning opportunities that support holistic development and add value to student engagement. The Panel concluded that EdUHK’s Graduate School and Faculties had together made significant progress in fostering a postgraduate culture and offering research postgraduate students a high-quality learning experience in a supportive, collegial environment.

The University Life Planning Pilot Scheme is a new initiative, launched in September 2016 to help first-year undergraduate students make their own personal development plans based on their goals, interests, values, strengths and weaknesses. During the year, more than 480 students attended advising sessions facilitated by the University’s student development tutors, with the vast majority of them drawing up their own personal development plans. The scheme will be expanded to cover all first-year undergraduate students in 2017/18.

We continued our efforts throughout the year to partner with the local business sector, overseas universities and international organisations to secure internship places. In the local business sector, 37 corporations and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provided summer placements for EdUHK students. Our students also left their footprints in 23 overseas countries, spanning Africa, Europe, Asia and South America, representing a year-on-year increase of 25 per cent in the number of overseas countries. These overseas internship places provided our students with opportunities to gain exposure to the mass media, NGOs and businesses, among others.

In support of lifelong learning for local educators, the University offers professional development programmes (PDPs) specially designed for school leaders and serving teachers to enhance their professional skills and knowledge in specific domains. The reporting year saw a 19 per cent surge in enrolment in the University’s PDPs when compared to 2015/16, as well as new PDPs in the areas of school improvement and leadership, computational thinking development, Hong Kong society, and integrating self-directed learning in classroom pedagogy, among others.

Similar professional training programmes, including short-term courses in specific areas, were also well sought after by educators and related professionals in the region. Seven such programmes were organised during the year for more than 510 teachers from the Greater China Region and beyond, covering the topics of inclusive education, educational management and catering for diverse learning needs.

In the Chief Executive’s Award for Teaching Excellence 2016/17 Scheme, out of 32 recipients in the areas of Arts Education Key Learning, Science Education Key Learning, and Guidance and Discipline, 13 were graduates of EdUHK or the former Colleges of Education, with eight receiving awards and five getting certificates of merit. Since the Scheme’s inception, 615 out of 840 (approximately 73 per cent) awards or certificates have been presented to alumni of EdUHK or the former Colleges of Education

Attesting to the University’s unique strengths in teacher education and its ever-growing capacity in educational and related research, a bout 500 students were attracted to our signature postgraduate programmes, including the Master of Education, Master of Teaching, Master of Arts in Teaching Chinese as an International Language (MATCIL), Master of Arts in Chinese Studies (Language Education), and Master of Science in Educational Speech-language Pathology and Learning Disabilities.

In recognition of EdUHK’s track record in Research Grants Council (RGC) funding schemes and outcomes in the Research Assessment Exercise, 67 research postgraduate places were allocated by the UGC in 2016/17, nearly a six-fold increase from 10 in 2009/10, when the research postgraduate programmes were first launched.

Two EdUHK-nominated candidates were also selected by the RGC for the first time to receive the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship to pursue a Doctor of Philosophy programme at the University commencing in the 2017/18 academic year.

At EdUHK, postgraduate students are given ample opportunities for overseas exposure and engagement through academic collaboration, exchanges and dual degree programmes, among others. For example, International Outreach Study Programmes were organised for research postgraduate and Doctor of Education students to universities in the United States, France and the United Kingdom in May 2017. Organised scholarly activities under the programme included participation in academic workshops and seminars, as well as sharing of research findings with postgraduate students and researchers of the host universities.

Besides outbound activities, EdUHK has been diversifying its sources of international research students, resulting in an increase in the percentage of the newly admitted overseas students from seven per cent in 2015/16 to 14 per cent in 2016/17, with students from Bangladesh, France, Italy, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Taiwan and Uganda.

The University’s pursuit of internationalisation strategies, which was commended by the QAC, also included its extensive international exchange programmes, growth of international student body, measures to promote the integration of local and non-local students, and strong regional partnerships, among others.