Hong Kong’s university entrance exam should be internationalised to help turn the city into a global tertiary education hub, several lawmakers have suggested ahead of the annual policy address next month, arguing the move will not harm local students’ interests.
The legislators also called for the establishment of more Diploma for Secondary Education (DSE) exam centres outside Hong Kong.
Other suggestions included awarding non-local DSE students “bonus points” under the admission process for local universities and providing additional support to private tertiary education institutions to help them upgrade to self-financed universities.
Such moves would align with plans announced in last year’s policy address to launch a “Study in Hong Kong” campaign to promote the city as a global tertiary education hub, they said.
“The DSE’s edge lies in the fact that students can sit papers in either Chinese or English,” lawmaker Dennis Lam Shun-chiu said.
Lam said his suggestions aimed to promote the DSE as an internationally recognised curriculum in a similar vein to the International Baccalaureate (IB) and A-levels by increasing the number of candidates and expanding its presence beyond Hong Kong.
“Many international exams and curricula, such as the IB and A-levels, have been deep-rooted on the mainland. I believe that DSE will have a greater appeal for mainland Chinese students,” the legislator said.
