The Vocational Training Council (VTC), Hong Kong’s largest vocational and professional education and training provider, announced that one of its institutes is aiming to become a university of applied sciences (UAS) by 2026 at the earliest. The Technological and Higher Education Institute (THEi) is among four institutions that have expressed interest in becoming a UAS since the government unveiled a plan for such institutions last year. Hong Kong Metropolitan University officially obtained UAS status last month. According to VTC executive director Donald Tong Chi-keung, THEi, which was founded in 2012, is currently applying for programme area accreditation (PAA) status in three areas: sports and recreation, architecture and environment, and computer science and information technology. This is one of the criteria required before it can apply to become a private university and then a UAS. If THEi obtains PAA status in these three areas, it will be able to launch relevant degree programs without seeking external approval. “Before the Hong Kong government announced the idea of universities of applied sciences, we were already working towards the goal of becoming one,” said Tong. “The year 2026 is the earliest for us to apply. We are not here to do nothing, instead we are now preparing for the accreditation. We need to respect the mechanism.” THEi currently has over 2,200 full-time students and offers more than 20 professional applied science degree programs. St Francis University and Tung Wah College have also expressed intentions to apply for UAS status. The VTC will also launch a professional diploma in dental hygiene care, the second of its kind in the city, in the first quarter of next year. The dental hygienist course will be self-financed and take 18 months to complete, which is half a year shorter than the one offered by the Prince Philip Dental Hospital. According to VTC deputy executive director Eric Liu Sai-Lok, the total tuition fee will be HK$140,000 (US$17,870). A report compiled by a working group found that ancillary dental workers play an important role in the delivery of primary dental services, especially amid a shortage of professionals trained for the role. To further address the city’s manpower crunch, the VTC has accepted non-local students since January for 27 designated higher diploma programs in five professional industries suffering labor shortages, under a two-year pilot government program. Graduates are allowed to stay in the city to seek jobs upon graduation and are eligible to apply for permanent residency after living in Hong Kong for seven years. VTC deputy executive director Alaina Shum Jiu-fai said that the council had already received a few hundred applications, mainly from mainland China, with the application deadline on July 7. She added that some courses, including aviation and logistics, aviation services and transport studies, and airport operations management, would be taught in Mandarin to cater to their needs. The five designated industries covered in the scheme are aviation, transport and logistics, innovation and technology, electrical and mechanical services, and building, civil engineering, built environment, and maritime.
VTC Institute Aims to Become University of Applied Sciences by 2026
