Hong Kong Permanent Secretary for Education Raymond Wong (second from left) visits the Bronx High School of Science.

Hong Kong Permanent Secretary for Education Raymond Wong kicked off his U.S. tour on April 29 with a visit to New York City, promoting Hong Kong’s newly implemented New Academic Structure (NAS) and showcasing the territory’s efforts to enhance its status as a regional education hub.

While in New York, Mr. Wong visited the Bronx High School of Science and the City University of New York. Noting that the United States is a popular destination for Hong Kong students to pursue their studies, Mr. Wong met senior management and briefed them on how the NAS can facilitate a smoother articulation with overseas education systems, including the U.S. system.

While the Bronx High School of Science, a specialized New York public high school, attracts an intellectually gifted mix of culturally, ethnically and economically diverse students from New York City, the City University of New York has a large, diverse student population representing all 50 states and more than 130 countries.

Mr. Wong took the opportunity to learn more about the admission and enrollment processes of these institutions.  He also met local high school and university students and welcomed them to study in Hong Kong, a metropolitan city where East meets West and which is the gateway to mainland China.

At an April 29 reception hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York, Hong Kong Permanent Secretary for Education Raymond Wong meets a group of Hong Kong students studying at New York University and Columbia University, some of whom are exchange-program participants.

Mr. Wong also called on President of the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) Laura Anglin. The commission represents 11 independent, private, non-profit colleges and universities, and has a mission to advance higher education public policy.  

Mr. Wong briefed Ms. Anglin on the various measures that are in place to further diversify the higher education sector in Hong Kong. These include earmarking six plots of land for the development of self-financing tertiary institutions and the provision of financial initiatives, such as the Land Grant Scheme, Start-up Loan Scheme and Quality Enhancement Grant Scheme.

Mr. Wong also met a group of Hong Kong students studying at New York University and Columbia University at a reception hosted by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York.

Mr. Wong discussed with the students their experiences and the challenges of academic exchanges. They also traded thoughts on Hong Kong’s efforts to encourage more overseas students to study in Hong Kong, which include doubling the non-local student quotas of publicly funded programs to 20%, establishing a US$128.2 million Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government Scholarship Fund, allowing non-local students to take on summer jobs and on-campus part-time jobs and enabling non-local students to stay in Hong Kong without restrictions for 12 months after graduation.

During his two-day visit to New York, Mr. Wong also met with senior management at the Admission Office of New York University, which has processed a record 38,000 applications. He also called on the senior management of the College Board, which has developed a common entrance examination for students (the Scholastic Assessment Test, or SAT) and briefed them on the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education (HKDSE), which serves a similar purpose.

Mr. Wong also met Mariam Assefa, president of World Education Services, which has 30 years of experience in evaluating international credentials. Discussions focused on how to streamline admission procedures and strengthen assessment of international credentials, as well as details of the five-level standards referenced reporting system adopted by the HKDSE.

After New York, Mr. Wong visited Washington, D.C., and San Francisco as he continued his tour of the United States to strengthen ties with its secondary and tertiary educational institutions.