Message from the College Principal

Dear everyone,

With the start of the Year of the Snake, I wish everyone a great and successful year ahead!

In the eyes of some people, the snake represents laziness. In winter, they just hibernate and do nothing at all. However, what people cannot see is they take the opportunity to rest and be prepared for the challenges ahead.

The same can be said of sub-degree programmes.  People perceived them as a shelter for  sub-standard students. The graduates from these programmes have been looked down on by the general public.

As the Principal of the HKU SPACE Community College, my heart grieved when I heard such comments, and it is so unfair in making these comments about the hardworking students.

Most of the students who enter our college were just screwed up by the public examination system and missed the chance of getting into the University. Moreover, the plain fact is that there are not sufficient university places in Hong Kong to meet the demand from qualified applicants.  Also, in this context, the truth is that, under the instruction of the teachers and the hard work by the students themselves, some 60% to 70% of the students can articulate to universities.  Indeed, almost 40% articulate to UGC-funded bachelor degree programmes, and around 20% of them are admitted to HKU.

Their effort and spirit is undoubted, and this reveals how much they treasure the chance of studying sub-degree programmes as a second chance of getting into universities. During conversations with students, they told me they are glad to have the 2-year period to better equip themselves and get used to the university level teaching-learning mode, it is much better than being judged by one examination.

Articulation to university may not be the aim for some students, but they do have a very good and outstanding career path after graduation. According to the research done by Prof. Chung Yue-ping on 'Economic Returns to Postsecondary Sub-degree Education’, the salary and employment rate of graduates from sub-degree programmes are better than F.7 graduates.

In Chinese, there is a saying “To be a scholar is to be the top of society”, sub-degree programmes give students an additional 2 years of post-secondary education, not only enriching their personal growth, but also promoting their competitive. In the end, the education level in Hong Kong is improved.

I wish we all could give a little more support and encouragement to the youth, let them enrich themselves in a peaceful atmosphere to establish a strong and purposeful  foundation. For Students, you all have to support each other and stay positive!

Professor T M Wong