Legislators raise alarm over non-local student numbers

Legislators have criticised the government’s higher education funding adviser for its lax regulation of non-local student numbers, saying places for mainland students could come at the expense of locals, writes Peace Chiu for South China Morning Post.

A recently released audit report revealed that one publicly funded university exceeded the enrolment limit of 20% non-local students for undergraduate programmes without manpower restrictions by 2.4%, or 238 students. A university also exceeded an enrolment limit of 4% of non-local students on Chinese medicine programmes by 20.1%, or 36 students. The report noted that mainland students made up 76% of non-local students at the universities in 2015-16.

During a Legislative Council public accounts committee meeting, legislator Lam Cheuk-ting asked the Education Bureau and University Grants Committee if taking additional non-local students would affect teaching quality and take up resources. “A university only has limited resources. If you spend such a large portion on mainland students, the local students would be affected,” he said.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site