Permanent Secretary for Education Raymond Wong will lead a delegation to visit New York, Washington DC and San Francisco from tomorrow to strengthen ties with secondary and tertiary educational institutions there.

They will promote the new academic structure, secure wider international recognition of the Diploma of Secondary Education, and showcase Hong Kong as the regional education hub.

In New York, Mr Wong and delegates will visit the Bronx High School of Science. They will have meetings with the senior management of the City University of New York, the Commission on Independent Colleges & Universities, New York University, the Institute of International Education, the College Entrance Examination Board, World Education Services and the Lingnan Foundation.

Mr Wong will meet Hong Kong students at a reception hosted by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in New York.

The delegation will proceed to Washington DC on May 2. Mr Wong will attend a roundtable discussion at the Institute of International Education and make a presentation on the new academic structure. The delegation will exchange views on education issues with academics and local personnel in the education field.

Mr Wong will also visit George Washington University and meet representatives of the American Council on Education, the US Department of Education and the American Association of Collegiate Registrars & Admissions Office.

In San Francisco, Mr Wong will have a meeting at California's Department of Education before calling on the Chancellor of the Community College System of California on May 5. The delegation will then visit the University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University and Foothill College, followed by a reception hosted by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in San Francisco with support from the HK Association of northern California.

The delegation will return to Hong Kong on May 8.