Tik Chi Yuen

Opinion | To attract world’s best, Hong Kong universities must remain free and open

The marginalisation of student unions, political interference and lack of consultation over reforms has fed a feeling of shrinking academic freedom and autonomy

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Chinese University is seen on January 10. Concerns have been raised about undue political interference in Hong Kong’s universities, from teaching policies and personnel arrangements to academic freedom and the room for academic pursuits. Photo: Eugene Lee

Tik Chi Yuen

Published: 9:30am, 30 Jan 2024

Hong Kong is taking the right path in setting its sights on the international education industry. Education was already being promoted as one of six major industries back in 2009-10, when Donald Tsang Yam-kuen was chief executive.

Over the years, our local universities have gained much prestige. Five are now ranked among the world’s top 100 by Times Higher Education: University of Hong Kong (HKU), Chinese University (CUHK), University of Science and Technology, Polytechnic University, and City University (CityU).

Our universities attract both top research talent and students from around the globe and are an important platform for the city to maintain its connections with the international community. To attract the best scholars and researchers to our universities, Hong Kong must safeguard their academic freedom and institutional autonomy. Recently, however, the city’s tertiary education sector has faced several challenges.

The first relates to the marginalisation of student unions. Many institutions, such as Lingnan University, HKU and CityU, have either severed ties with their student unions or moved to distance themselves from them, no longer collecting fees on their behalf. The space for student unions to operate is shrinking, with many losing the right to participate in internal campus affairs and meetings, and facing restrictions when organising student activities.

Yet, universities and student unions used to have a collaborative relationship on issues such as managing campus affairs, improving the learning environment and enhancing teaching quality.

Student unions also provided a platform for nurturing future leaders – many government officials, business leaders and political figures were active members of their student unions. Marginalising our student unions and restricting student participation can only be detrimental to the holistic development of Hong Kong’s undergraduates.