Teacher education in Hong Kong and the region may turn a new page as CUHK and HKIEd explore possibilities of deep collaboration. CUHK's Faculty of Education has set up a consultative group to collect views from staff, students and alumni.
The Councils of The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Institute of Education (HKIEd) have approved a set of principles to guide the exploration of deep collaboration between the two institutions. Teacher education in Hong Kong and in the region may turn a new page.
The principles were recommended by the CUHK-HKIEd Task Force on Deep Collaboration, after initial deliberations and consultations with respective staff and students. It is agreed that CUHK and HKIEd should formally start exploring the possibility of a deep collaboration in order to provide the best teacher education for Hong Kong and the region, and for the long-term benefit of both institutions. The two institutions would first focus on the coming two triennia (2005-08 and 2008-11).
CUHK and HKIEd believe that they can capitalise on each other's strengths which are complementary and synergistic. Together they can create a critical mass of research and teaching expertise and resources unprecedented in Hong Kong, providing for the professional and academic education of teachers to serve in Hong Kong's kindergartens, primary, secondary, vocational and tertiary institutions.
The collaboration is not meant for resource saving. No elimination or downsizing of overlapping departments will be considered; and merger is not part of the discussion. Both institutions affirm that public funds for education in Hong Kong should be increased. It is expected that extra resources will be provided by the government for this collaboration, to support the spirit of cooperation and the level of excellence to be achieved.
During the coming two triennia, CUHK and HKIEd will continue largely with their present governance, and operate on their existing campuses. Appropriate changes might be adopted for the second triennium upon mutual consent.
The CUHK-HKIEd Task Force on Deep Collaboration will further discuss the mid- to long-term collaboration framework. In the meantime, CUHK's Faculty of Education has already set up a consultative group involving staff, students, and alumni. This group will carry out consultations to collect opinions on any collaboration projects to be carried out under the agreed principles.
The proposed collaboration with HKIEd will add to a long list of such deep collaborations that have added value to the education provided at CUHK. Examples include joint courses for research postgraduate students with HKU and HKUST, a joint MBA programme in finance with Tsinghua University, joint training of Ph.D. students with the US National Institutes of Health, and the Joint Laboratory for Geoinformation Science with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.