A university of education should not be established for now and the Institute of Education should give priority to the strategic development of teacher education, additional disciplines and research.

These were the recommendations of the University Grants Committee in its review on the institute's development blueprint submitted to the Government today.

Committee chairperson Laura Cha said the committee suggests the institute be developed into a stand-alone institution with multi-disciplinary and research development, or partner with an existing university.

"From our research on the prevailing transformation routes taken by most teacher education institutions across different continents and cultures, we observed that developing a multi-disciplinary learning environment and strong research capacity are two of the keys to enhancing teacher education," Mrs Cha said.

"Institute of Education students will benefit the most from a multi-disciplinary environment. Not only will they become more adaptive to the ever changing classroom upon graduation, they will also be better equipped to tackle real life problems and guide our younger generation in meeting future challenges," she said. "They will also have greater flexibility in their career choices."

Click here to download the review report.