HKMU vice-president Kwan Ching-ping retires after two decades
SingTao · 2 SOURCESabout 4 hours ago2 MIN
Summary
Hong Kong Metropolitan University academic vice-president Kwan Ching-ping retired at the end of October after serving the institution for nearly 20 years and spending more than four decades in higher education. In interviews published on Tuesday, he said self-financing institutions must keep renewing their course mix in line with social demand, while warning that holding on to programmes with weak enrolment and poor job prospects could undermine financial stability.
Key Points
- Kwan said HKMU had previously enrolled many early childhood education students, but has reduced places as market demand fell in recent years
- He said he discontinued comparative literature after returning to HKMU because he could not clearly see what jobs graduates would enter
- Describing self-financing education as a game of Go, Kwan said some programmes sustain a university while others broaden student appeal, but enrolment remains crucial
- Kwan said competition among institutions is healthy, and HKMU, as the first University of Applied Sciences, designs programmes with industry collaboration
- On HKMU's decision to apply for land in the Hung Shui Kiu university town, he said institutions can develop at different scales, though he shared concerns over a widening gap with publicly funded universities
Why It Matters
Kwan's remarks point to a practical debate in Hong Kong higher education: whether self-financing institutions can stay academically diverse while remaining financially viable and closely tied to employment outcomes. His comments also frame the next phase for HKMU and its peers as they compete for students, industry relevance and development space, even as resource differences with publicly funded universities may grow.