Secretary for Education Choi Yuk-lin concluded her visit to Australia today by meeting representatives of the business community in Melbourne to promote the advantages of Hong Kong as an international hub for post-secondary education.

She said the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government attaches great importance to education. Highlighting that Hong Kong, helped by sustained government investment, is the sole city with five universities among the world’s top 100, she said this underlined the Hong Kong SAR Government’s commitment to academic excellence and global success.

Last year’s Policy Address outlined a comprehensive blueprint to develop Hong Kong into an international education hub for post-secondary education.

Ms Choi stressed that that various initiatives demonstrate the Hong Kong SAR Government’s commitment to attracting talent, and to promoting diversity and internationalisation in the higher education sector. She said she looked forward to more overseas students pursuing their studies in Hong Kong, and taking advantage of the city’s wealth of opportunities for them to excel in their academic pursuits.

Yesterday, she met the University of Melbourne’s Melbourne Graduate School of Education Laureate Professor Prof John Hattie, and the Dean of the graduate school Prof Field Rickards, to discuss teacher education.

Before moving on to Melbourne, Ms Choi was in Perth, on March 7, where she met Western Australia’s Minister for Training & Workforce Development; Water; Industrial Relations Simone McGurk to learn about Australia’s experience in developing vocational and professional education and training. They also discussed ways of promoting collaboration between institutions and industry to address the manpower needs of the market.

She also met Western Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education; Aboriginal Affairs; Citizenship & Multicultural Interests Yaz Mubarakai, with whom she exchanged views on measures for attracting and supporting overseas students to study locally.

Additionally, Ms Choi visited the University of Western Australia to learn more about its international student admission policies and higher education exchanges and collaboration between Hong Kong and Australia.

Ms Choi also attended a lunch reception hosted by the Hong Kong Examinations & Assessment Authority and spoke about the advantages of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE) Examination to representatives of universities from different countries.

Speaking at the event, Dr Choi said that the HKDSE Examination has moved with the times, helping to establish Hong Kong’s brand as a provider of quality education and gaining wide recognition abroad.

She pointed out that candidates can directly apply for admission to universities abroad with their HKDSE Examination results.

She stressed that the examination therefore attracts not only students enrolled in the local curriculum in Hong Kong, but also those pursuing non-local curricula in Hong Kong, as well as students from Mainland China and other regions.