Local students are “beneficiaries and participants” in the process of turning Hong Kong into an international higher education hub, a government minister has said, amid concerns that they will become “victims” whose interests are being undermined.
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Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also told lawmakers on Friday that authorities would closely monitor the need to make further adjustments to non-local student quotas.
At a meeting of the Legislative Council’s education panel, lawmaker Starry Lee Wai-king said the government should make local youngsters its first priority when the city developed itself into an international hub for post-secondary education.
“We should let Hong Kong parents and youngsters know that the secretary has not forgotten them,” said Lee, the city’s sole representative on the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, the country’s top legislative body.
She also expressed hopes that Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu’s policy address, set to be delivered on September 17, could include new measures to tackle changes in demand after some overseas education hubs revised their rules on issuing student visas.
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Lee did not elaborate on whether she was referring to the United States, where the Trump administration has flip-flopped on student visa policies, creating uncertainties for those already studying there or who would like to.