5 h. ago Hong Kong education chief puts onus on schools amid competition for students

Hong Kong’s education minister has said that schools struggling with insufficient student enrolment must evaluate their own performance in meeting parents’ expectations rather than relying on government intervention. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said the education sector should not insist on keeping the existing number of schools and emphasised a need for “metabolism” to ensure its vitality. In an interview with local media last Friday, she said that the recent policy...

Politics

5 h. ago Schools with shrinking numbers must fix their problems: Hong Kong education chief

Hong Kong’s education minister has said that schools struggling with insufficient student enrolment must evaluate their own performance in meeting parents’ expectations rather than relying on government intervention. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin also said the education sector should not insist on keeping the existing number of schools and emphasised a need for “metabolism” to ensure its vitality. In an interview with local media last Friday, she said that the recent policy...

Politics

50 h. ago Hong Kong school told to submit report on alleged student harassment in Shenzhen

Hong Kong education authorities have requested a detailed report from a secondary school following complaints that its teachers failed to promptly intervene when four drunk men reportedly harassed two female students during a study tour in Shenzhen. The incident came to light on Sunday after students from Chang Pui Chung Memorial School revealed it in a post on the social media platform Threads. According to the post, the two Form Five students encountered the men in a hotel corridor one night...

Events

50 h. ago Hong Kong school ordered to submit report after students harassed in Shenzhen

Hong Kong education authorities have requested a detailed report from a secondary school following complaints that its teachers failed to promptly intervene when four drunk men reportedly harassed two female students during a study tour in Shenzhen. Sudents from Chang Pui Chung Memorial School revealed the incident in a post on the social media platform Threads. According to the post, the two Form Five students encountered the men in a hotel corridor one night during the tour while they were on...

Events

6 d. ago Hong Kong DSE documentary star gets probation after second theft offence

A Hong Kong student who starred in a popular web documentary about secondary school public exams has been placed on probation after a court agreed to give him “one last chance” following his second shoplifting offence in a year. Eastern Court accepted a probation officer’s recommendation and handed Tang Ngai-hong a 12-month probation order on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to theft earlier this month. The 19-year-old admitted stealing a bag of fruit and two packets of potato chips worth a...

Politics

7 d. ago Lawmakers call for rents in Hong Kong student hostels to be regulated

Hong Kong lawmakers have urged authorities to regulate university hostel rents as more office buildings and hotels are set to be converted into student accommodation, with the Post finding market rates for some are four times higher than for campus dormitories. The legislators made the call on Tuesday as they discussed a new government policy under which authorities will relax planning rules for developers to convert offices and hotels into hostels in a pilot scheme to be launched next month, to...

Society

7 d. ago 5 Harvard postgraduates opt for Hong Kong’s HKUST after US sanctions

Five Harvard University postgraduate students have accepted offers from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) following the United States government’s ban on international student admissions last month. A HKUST spokeswoman confirmed that the university extended offers to six Harvard postgraduate students. “The university has extended admission offers to six postgraduate Harvard offer holders and current students, whose research spans science, technology, humanities, and...

Politics

8 d. ago Hong Kong will gain talent because of geopolitics: HKU chief

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is not about to “take advantage” of international students and scholars facing difficulties in the United States but it will just focus on welcoming and nurturing talent, its head has said, revealing it was handling over 100 transfer applications. Vice-chancellor Xiang Zhang, a renowned scientist, told the Post that HKU should “rise above the storm” to promote international collaboration via technology and tackle global challenges and not be deterred by...

Politics

1 week ago Who created AI app MediSafe? Hong Kong student and US software firm stake claims

Two Hong Kong government departments have launched an investigation into an award-winning medication prescription app invented by a student that had already been in use by a clinic three years earlier, the Post has learned. The Digital Policy Office and Education Bureau said they were studying the mobile app that a student surnamed Poon, from St Paul’s Co-educational College in Mid-Levels, submitted in competitions as her invention. Poon declined to respond to online accusations calling her “a...

Events

1 week ago Hong Kong weighs relaxing building rules for university student hostels

Hong Kong authorities are considering relaxing rules for the construction of university student hostels in commercial and non-residential areas to ease a supply shortage. The proposal has attracted support from private operators, who said they currently needed to fulfil certain requirements when transforming hotels into hostels. The Development Bureau told the Post it was considering scrapping or simplifying building procedures required for student hostels on commercial and non-residential...

Politics

1 week ago Hong Kong to relax rules for converting hotels into university student hostels

Hong Kong authorities will relax rules for converting hotels into university student accommodation to ease a supply shortage under a pilot scheme to be launched next month. In a paper submitted to the Legislative Council on Friday, the Development Bureau said it would expand the definition of “hotels” to include student hostels, waive planning procedures and simplify applications, allowing private operators to build the dormitories on commercial land more easily. “Under the latest plan,...

Society

1 week ago ‘Betrayal’: why Hong Kong students remain cautious as US resumes visa processing

The United States has resumed processing student visas after a month-long halt, with applicants now required to make their social media profiles public for review, a move that has left many Hong Kong hopefuls feeling uncertain and betrayed. The country’s State Department said on Wednesday (US time) that it was once again processing visas for academic, vocational and exchange students. Appointment slots at the US consulate in Hong Kong for such visas quickly became available following the...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong’s rent surge hits mainland students and professionals

Wang Ruoshuo, a 21-year-old student from Hefei, the capital of central Anhui province, is searching for a flat in Hung Hom in southern Kowloon, which is close to her university and the company where she interns. As a first-time renter, however, she has been taken aback by the high prices. Wang and her friends are looking for a two-bedroom unit, budgeting about HK$7,000 to HK$8,000 (US$892 to US$1,019) per person. “But when we began our search, we found that properties meeting our criteria would...

Society

2 w. ago Teen star of Hong Kong documentary on DSE exams convicted of theft again

A Hong Kong student who starred in a popular web documentary about the city’s university entrance exams has been convicted of theft for a second time after pleading guilty to shoplifting at a supermarket. Eastern Court on Thursday recorded a guilty plea from Tang Ngai-hong, who admitted to stealing a bag of fruit and two packets of potato chips from the Fresh supermarket at Kornhill Plaza North in Quarry Bay on January 5. The offence took place just five months after the 19-year-old was fined...

Politics

2 w. ago Hong Kong student spared jail for faking exam results via beauty app Meitu

A Hong Kong student has been spared prison time over her attempt to secure a university placement with bogus entrance exam results edited by Chinese beauty filter app Meitu, with the presiding magistrate accepting the crime was a lapse in judgment. Ng Tsz-ying, 22, was sentenced to a 12-month probation order at Fanling Court on Wednesday for submitting a fake copy of her certificate in the Diploma of Secondary Education examination to the Education University of Hong Kong last year. Last month,...

Events

3 w. ago Hong Kong must ‘seize opportunities’ to attract talent amid US student visa woes

Hong Kong should capitalise on the opportunities arising from US-China tensions to attract more talent to its academic and tech sectors, heads of the city’s top medical schools have said, ahead of a visit to the world’s largest biotechnology event in Boston. Representatives from the medical faculties of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will join the delegation of the government-funded Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP)...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong students still unable to get US visa bookings: consultancy firms

Hong Kong tertiary students looking to study in the United States remain unable to secure visa appointments with the country’s local consulate, despite bookings becoming available in Beijing and other jurisdictions. Three education consultancies contacted by the Post said that they still could not book appointment slots for their clients as of Monday morning, further fuelling confusion among students amid Washington’s sudden policy shifts in recent days. Samuel Chan Sze-ming, managing partner at...

Politics

3 w. ago Hong Kong students eyeing US universities advised to check social media accounts

Hong Kong students hoping to attend universities in the US should review their social media for content related to the country’s politics, an education consultant has advised, as uncertainties swirled amid reported flip-flopping over whether consulates could process visa applications for Harvard. Consultants on Sunday told the Post they were still trying to get confirmation on what American authorities required and were unclear about whether they would be able to book visa interviews for their...

Politics

3 w. ago US consulate expands social media checks on Hongkongers seeking student visas

The US consulate in Hong Kong has stepped up screening of students’ social media accounts when processing their visa applications by checking their activities on other platforms apart from Facebook and Instagram, according to an education consultancy. Litz USA Student Service, a Hong Kong-based education consultancy specialising in US education since 1989, said on its Facebook page on Friday the consulate had recently expanded social media scrutiny when processing students’ visa...

Politics

3 w. ago Alarm over Hong Kong student suicides, but minister rejects calls for counsellors

Hong Kong’s education minister has dismissed suggestions to introduce counsellors at schools to address students’ mental health concerns, arguing that the issue should be tackled through concerted efforts across campus, rather than relying on a single individual. Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin told lawmakers on Friday that primary and secondary schools in the city had reported 11 suspected student suicide cases between January and April this year. This follows 28 such cases in...

Events