Additional HK$150 Million Earmarked to Enhance Learning, Teaching and Research

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The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) Council Chairman Professor Frederick Ma Si-hang and President Professor Stephen Cheung Yan-leung met the media at a Spring Reception today (12 February) in celebration of the Lunar New Year.

Speaking on the occasion, Professor Cheung revealed that the University will earmark an additional HK$150 million in the next three years to enhance learning, teaching and research. This will entail the recruitment of new academic and teaching staff, in addition to the ongoing global search for Chair Professors and Professors. With its strengthened academic capacity, the University is poised to take the lead in driving educational innovation and research excellence in support of teacher education in Hong Kong.

The President said he was pleased to note some of the major accomplishments EdUHK had achieved after retitling in May 2016, thanks to the concerted efforts of the University community:

• Emerging in the top 10 for the first time in the 2018 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings in Education;

• Winning international accolades and awards, including 11 awards on educational innovation in prestigious competitions held in Geneva, Toronto and Nuremberg.

• Generating income of HK$94 million from knowledge transfer activities in 2017/18, an increase of 70% over that in 2013/14; the number of activities grew 75% during the period, from 461 to 810;

• Emerging first in both the number of funded projects and the amount awarded in the Education discipline in the 2018/19 Research Grants Council’s General Research Fund and Early Career Scheme funding exercises;

• Launching the State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution (SKLMP) (EdUHK Branch) and the Research Centre for Transmission of Cantonese Opera to advance research frontiers in marine pollution and Cantonese Opera culture respectively;

• Winning the University Grants Committee (UGC) Teaching Award, which honours academics who are excellent in teaching in the UGC sector;

• Promoting pleasurable learning in schools through animated projects on Chinese Language and Chinese History, among others;

• Supporting teacher education in Belt and Road countries, including Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Vietnam and the Philippines. The Vietnam project, which covered eight major teacher training universities, was a nation-wide consultancy project awarded by the World Bank in November 2017.

“As we celebrate our 25th anniversary, we look forward to working with all our stakeholders, local and overseas, to make an even greater contribution to the betterment of education in Hong Kong and beyond”, said Professor Cheung.