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.
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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.
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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.