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Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Wai-keung and a reply by the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim, in the Legislative Council today (October 16):
Question:
Earlier on, I received requests for assistance from a group of private candidates who took the Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination held for the last time (last HKALE). They said that their HKALE results met the general entrance requirements for local first-degree programmes (university entrance requirements) but, according to the authorities' requirement, they could apply for university admission only through the non-Joint University Programmes Admissions System (non-JUPAS) as they held results other than the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination. Moreover, the date for the release of HKALE results was so late that quite a number of universities did not have any places left, or the admission processes had already been closed, by the time they received the applications submitted by those private candidates with their HKALE results, leaving some of those candidates yet to be admitted to universities to date. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows, among the 72 candidates who met the university entrance requirements in the last HKALE, the number of those who have been admitted to universities at present, with a breakdown by institution; whether the authorities have provided those 72 candidates with special assistance (e.g. helping them strive for opportunities for interviews); if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) as it has been reported that certain universities had not considered the HKALE results of the HKALE repeaters in processing their non-JUPAS applications for admission because the HKALE results had not been released then, whether the authorities will request the various institutions to review the applications from those candidates; and
(c) as some candidates have pointed out that although some candidates had attained outstanding results in the last HKALE, they were not admitted to universities probably because no places were left in universities, whether the authorities will liaise with the universities to look into the situation and ensure that the departments concerned are granted additional resources to provide places for the admission of those candidates?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) conducted the last Hong Kong Advanced Level Examination (HKALE) for private candidates in 2013. A total of over 5 300 private candidates sat for the HKALE in 2013. These candidates also have access to multiple pathways for further study, including applying for admission to University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions through direct channels outside the Joint University Programmes Admissions System (commonly known as the non-JUPAS route) according to the timetable set by institutions.
According to information provided by the UGC-funded institutions, all eight institutions have admitted HKALE candidates to UGC-funded first-year first-degree (FYFD) programmes this year. The total number was 319, including 62 admitted solely on the strength of current or combined HKALE results, as well as 257 students who were admitted based on their HKALE results together with other qualifications such as completion of the first year of sub-degree programmes. Based on 2013 HKALE results alone, 72 candidates have met the general entrance requirements for admission to local undergraduate programmes.
All along, in line with the principle of fairness and merit-based selection, each institution has established its own student admission policy. When considering student admission, institutions do not give favour to applicants on the basis of the routes (JUPAS or non-JUPAS) through which they submit their applications or the results release dates of their qualifications. Instead, institutions strive to identify the most meritorious candidates in the pool, taking into account factors such as their public examination results, the relevance of such results to the programmes being applied for, whether such results are attained through one or a few sittings, etc. Besides, institutions also assess candidates in other aspects, such as performance in interviews and their non-academic achievements. As long as the admission standards and procedures are fair and selection is based on merit, it would not be appropriate for the Education Bureau (EDB) to interfere in the admission criteria, or to provide any special assistance to individual applicants, lest this should lead to unfairness to other applicants.
(b) & (c) The timetable and results release date of the 2013 HKALE were decided by the HKEAA's Public Examinations Board, whose members include representatives of secondary schools and post-secondary institutions. The release date was announced as early as mid-May 2012 and the requirement for HKALE candidates to submit their applications via the non-JUPAS route was also announced as early as 2012. All UGC-funded institutions have well-established mechanisms in place for admitting candidates holding different qualifications with different results release dates via the non-JUPAS route. They have also reaffirmed with the EDB that their 2013 student admission processes were conducted in a fair manner. Institutions accepted applications for admission via the non-JUPAS route from September 2012 to the first quarter of 2013. They also made it clear that transcripts could be submitted after the release of examination results in the current academic year (e.g. July 30 for the HKALE and August 15 for the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A-Level) Examination), and admission results would be announced by the end of August. Based on the fact that 319 HKALE candidates were admitted by the UGC-funded institutions this year, it is self-evident that the prospects for HKALE candidates to compete for degree places with fellow applicants under fair and reasonable circumstances have not been compromised because of the results release date of 2013 HKALE. Moreover, we understand that there have been queries because a small number of students might have submitted belated applications or otherwise failed to submit their transcripts in accordance with the non-JUPAS application procedures set by institutions. To this end, the EDB has liaised with the institutions and provided relevant contact details for applicants to touch base with the institutions. The EDB also issued an open article on August 22 to clarify various queries regarding the admission arrangements of institutions.
I must reiterate that all institutions enjoy a high degree of autonomy in deciding their admission requirements. Admission grades may vary year on year depending on competition for the programmes concerned, and thus the past admission grades can only be taken as reference.
All in all, the Government is committed to providing our young people with flexible and diversified study pathways with multiple entry and exit points. For FYFD programmes, in addition to over 15 000 publicly-funded places, there are more than 7 000 places in full-time locally-accredited self-financing programmes. As for sub-degree programmes, 9 800 publicly-funded places and some 30 000 places in full-time locally-accredited self-financing programmes are offered. Furthermore, the number of senior year places for UGC-funded undergraduate programmes will also progressively increase to 4 000 intake places per annum. This will provide outstanding sub-degree graduates with more opportunities for articulation to the last two years of undergraduate programmes.
Ends/Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:48
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