Quality

Quality is of utmost importance to the self-financing post-secondary sector. Currently, there are two quality assurance bodies in Hong Kong to monitor the quality of the post-secondary education sector. The Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications (HKCAAVQ) is a statutory body responsible for the quality assurance of all programmes except those offered by self-accrediting institutions*. The Quality Assurance Council (QAC) has been established under the aegis of the University Grants Committee (UGC) and functions as a semi-autonomous body under the UGC. It aims to assist the UGC in assuring the quality of all programmes at the levels of sub-degree, first degree and above (however funded) offered by UGC-funded institutions.

Launched in May 2008, the Qualifications Framework (QF) is a seven-level hierarchy covering qualifications in the academic, vocational and professional as well as continuing education sectors. It seeks to establish an accessible articulation pathway to promote and support life-long learning with a view to continuously enhancing the quality, professionalism and diversification of Hong Kong’s workforce.

As part of the Government’s effort to support the development of the QF, the Designated Support Schemes for QF encourages and assists education providers in seeking accreditation of their programmes and register the qualifications and programmes on the Qualifications Register.

In order to oversee issues relating to the quality of self-financing post-secondary education, the Government has set up the Sub-committee on Quality Assurance under the revamped Committee on Self-financing Post-secondary Education on 1 November 2019, which consists of representatives from both UGC-funded and self-financing sectors as well as overseas experts, and representatives from the Education Bureau, the UGC Secretariat and the HKCAAVQ are ex-officio members. The Liaison Committee on Quality Assurance was disbanded on the same date.

* The nine self-accrediting institutions are: City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Education University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The University of Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong Metropolitan University.