Since the Umbrella Movement petered to a bureaucratic halt and retired to the negotiating table, the reputation of Hong Kong’s 90,000-odd university students has shifted. No longer destined to join the corporate elite, many young Hong Kongers walked the path of idealistic agitator. For many there would be no turning back.
Undeterred by internal affairs — or perhaps buoyed by the open dissent — roughly 14,000 international students chose Hong Kong as a study destination this year, lifting its ranking as a student city of choice to an impressive 5th place globally, according to QS.
So how is HK evolving as both international education hub and important source market?
Hong Kong authorities have responded to concerns in recent years about a perceived shortage of international students, and the Special Administrative Region has emerged as a key supplier of educational services to foreigners, most notably from mainland China (about 65% in 2015).
Hong Kong boasts three universities in the QS Top 50. In Pok Fu Lam on Hong Kong Island is the prestigious Hong Kong University at #28; on Kowloon side is The University of Science and Technology at #40 (ranked 16th worldwide for global employability of its graduates); and on a beautiful hillside campus in the New Territories lies The Chinese University of Hong Kong (ranked #46), which teaches mostly in Mandarin.
There are five other public universities, and a host of private operators. There is, if anything, a potential for oversupply.
Rankings hold great currency in one of the most market-driven societies in the world. The former British colony now holds the coveted number one spot in Asia, surpassing traditional rival Singapore, on the grounds of safety, student diversity, affordable tuition fees and overall living standard.
The Centennial Campus of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) was recognised for its high standard reached in terms of green features and energy efficiency. Photo: HKU
Given the worsening air quality, widening income disparity, and, in particular, scarce student accommodation, this is no small achievement. “Since housing is so expensive on the island, it’s not a problem that can be easily solved,” says Rocio Blasco Garcia, a senior lecturer at Hong Kong University. “HKU built four residential colleges in three years, but demand outstrips supply and even local students are unhappy because they would like to experience hall life and many have up to a two-hour commute on a daily basis.”
On the plus side, relatively cheap living costs (in particular, food and transport), predominantly English instruction, a rich cultural life, and the city’s convenient geographic location ensure Hong Kong has remained a desirable place to study.
At the post-graduate level, government scholarships are readily available, although inflexible visa laws make it difficult for students to work legally off-campus to supplement their income.
He described his student visa as essentially ‘worthless’ in supporting his attempts to work part-time
Peter Pulsford, a British doctoral candidate at HKU who also completed two previous degrees at Hong Kong’s leading university, described his student visa as essentially ‘worthless’ in supporting his attempts to work part-time.
Fortunately, recent amendments to the Immigration Policy on Study have enabled international students to undertake paid ‘summer’ jobs and ‘on-campus’ employment of up to 20 hours per week.
Outbound student mobility is also steadily growing, as more middle-income Hong Kong households make provision for their children to attend an overseas university. These types of private, long-term investments have lasting commercial and cultural benefits for those who can afford it.
Conversely, Hong Kong authorities are mandating the internationalisation of their own universities to ensure the extrinsic rewards of overseas study — intercultural communication skills, increased independence, wider networking, bi-lingualism — are fed back into Hong Kong’s professional and civic life via its graduates.
But this is no easy task. At The Chinese University of Hong Kong, there are some claims of limited interaction between local and non-local students. Social work undergraduate, Sheng Xing, shares the frustrations of her classmates: “We want to meet more international students, but it is very difficult, unless we just approach them in class. There is nothing much official planned by the university.”
Intercultural understanding may lie at the heart of the international student experience, but getting the balance right in the classroom is still an ongoing challenge for educators. There is continuing debate over the future of Cantonese language as the teaching of Mandarin is now mandated in Hong Kong primary schools.
Also, lecturers at HKU are regularly confronted with Chinese students (both local and mainland) who are accustomed to a more didactic, risk-averse education system and struggle to adapt. A Spanish lecturer at HKU, Alejandra Jimenez, explains she believes the local education system is at the core of the clash of learning styles.
“One can easily notice the students that have attended international schools, not only because their level of proficiency in the English language is higher than average, but also because they tend to have a higher degree of self-confidence and do not appear to be so scared about taking an active role in lessons”.
Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Group Scholarism Leader Joshua Wong. Photo: Lam Yik Fei/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Conversely, non-Chinese international students can feel excluded from cultural activities on campus and often carry a burden of responsibility in the classroom. As Pulsford recalls: ‘I went from being the quietest member of the class in the UK to the most outspoken student who was regularly called upon. This was the only teaching certificate in Hong Kong delivered in English, and as the only native English speaker in the class I was regularly called upon to contribute. In fact, I was often the only one who was willing.’
Meanwhile, at the ultra-competitive pre-tertiary level in Hong Kong, a shortage of international primary and secondary schools has skewed the education market towards those who can afford the high fees. The vast majority of expatriate families in Hong Kong have long eschewed the local, Cantonese-speaking school system, but soaring international school fees now force an increasing number of non-local families to enrol their children in the local system.
Many local families also strive to send their children to international, English-language schools, particularly at secondary level. One attraction is the growing popularity of the International Baccalaureate in Hong Kong’s publically subsidised ESF schools, however social mobility is also a key motivating factor.
In my Senior English class at an international school in Kowloon Tong, almost half the students had been relocated to Australia soon after birth in order to be eligible for dual citizenship. Upon return a few years later, these students spoke fluent English and qualified for more streamlined access to elite universities abroad.
They see a version of their future selves living offshore
Their experience of Australia was negligible, or at best second-hand, but the idea of the place nonetheless resonated strongly. They see a version of their future selves living offshore. And the integration of similarly ‘internationalised’ local students with the large numbers of mainland Chinese who now choose Hong Kong for higher education, should, in theory, contribute to a more robust tertiary system and in turn a more dynamic workforce.
The Umbrella Movement may have been less inspired by bureaucratic incompetence, and more by the frustration of tertiary students jostling to participate in one of the most market-driven economies in the world.
International students face similar challenges of mobility, accessibility and affordability. Whether Hong Kong can truly emerge as a hub for international education will depend largely on the degree to which this unique region can meet the demands of its complex and discerning international student cohorts. The opportunities are unlikely to be ignored by Beijing. Hong Kong has been dubbed, after all, “Asia’s Global City”.
