From shortage of Hong Kong university places to glut by 2016
Hong Kong's shortage of university places could turn into a glut in three years as student numbers fall and competition from private institutions increases. In the 2013-2014 academic year there will be 22,000 places available at public and private universities for the 27,000 secondary school pupils likely to meet the minimum entry requirement to study for a degree.
Hong Kong's shortage of university places could turn into a glut in three years as student numbers fall and competition from private institutions increases.
In the 2013-2014 academic year there will be 22,000 places available at public and private universities for the 27,000 secondary school pupils likely to meet the minimum entry requirement to study for a degree.
But this situation is expected to reverse by 2016 and universities need to consolidate, according to the Education Bureau.
Education-sector lawmaker Ip Kin-yuen said that meant the government's ambitious efforts in recent years to expand tertiary education might mean institutions that had misplanned their expansion having to close.
Michelle Li, the bureau's deputy secretary for higher education, said there would be an estimated 23,200 university places for the 22,000 students expected to meet entry requirements in 2016.
The number of Form Six students is forecast to drop from 71,700 this year to 59,400 in three years, and to 45,100 in 2022.
Li said the sector should not see filling up places as its main roles, so enrolments should drop.
