Hong Kong must retain the talent its world-class universities nurture

We can count on this administration to be quick to take credit. It took just one day for Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki to claim credit on behalf of the Hong Kong government for the impressive results of the city’s universities in the latest Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Asia University Rankings.

All 11 of Hong Kong’s ranked institutions made it into Asia’s top 500 for the first time. Five of the 11 are ranked among Asia’s top 10. The University of Hong Kong took the crown as Asia’s top university, followed by City University (4th) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (5th). Polytechnic University and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology share ninth place.

These are phenomenal numbers. Huge congratulations go to our universities – especially the younger ones which do not have the benefit of century-old prestige – for all they have achieved, whether it is visions that came to fruition or commitment to quality learning and academic research with an internationalised outlook.

They accomplished this although the government is cutting their funding by 2 per cent a year over three years, and took back HK$4 billion (US$510.5 million) in total from universities’ reserves. The universities have also had to accept more terms attached to government funding, including “adjustment of recurrent grant” that could take the form of clawing back already-disbursed funding, “suspension, deferral, variation or revocation of the amount to be disbursed as deemed fit”.

Although different rankings use different metrics, funding cuts usually hurt ratings. For example, my alma mater, the University of California, Los Angeles, fell from being the top US public university last year, dropping in the US News & World Report rankings amid widespread budget and staffing cuts.

Hong Kong universities’ rise despite reduced support from the government is a good story to tell. It is a story of our higher education institutions’ resilience, adaptability and push for growth, ploughing through the aftermath of the 2019 social unrest and the disruptions brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This is not by chance,” Chan said at the World Class University Presidents Forum last week. He was right about that. He went on to say that “it is the result of sustained government investment, clear policy direction and the hard work of our universities”.

Not so fast. Government investment probably did play a role. Universities might even be thankful that the cuts to their funding weren’t as deep as what primary and secondary schools are experiencing on the ground.

We could also say the government’s push for three university towns in the Northern Metropolis is a clear policy direction. The government expects these towns to take off through a self-financed framework, with “favourable consideration” given to applicants who do not require a government loan.

However, the hard work of our universities shouldn’t have been mentioned last. Look at the incredible rise of City University. QS highlighted the university’s international faculty as part of the its key areas of performance. It ranks first in Asia and second globally in citations per faculty, trailing only Harvard University.

Something the university has done very well is the HK Tech 300 programme it started in 2021. It has created an ecosystem of synergy, fostering collaboration, incubating deep-tech start-ups and applying its research to provide practical industry solutions. This speaks to the university’s foresight and its ability to translate policy direction into successful programmes.

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Hong Kong graduates face gloomiest job outlook in 5 years

The universities won’t mind sharing credit for the rankings with the government. They are definitely pulling their weight in terms of supporting the government’s plans to make Hong Kong a hub for higher education. The government, meanwhile, must do more to retain the talent our world-class universities nurture. Top talent should not only study in Hong Kong but also stay on in Hong Kong.

On that front, the recent midterm manpower projection report by the Labour and Welfare Bureau is bad news. The rise of artificial intelligence has significantly affected university graduates, cutting full-time job vacancies suitable to them by 60 per cent.

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin rejected lawmaker Priscilla Leung Mei-fun’s idea of turning the last year of undergraduate programmes into an internship to boost employability. Although the idea put forth by Leung, who is also a City University professor, was shot down, she still insisted “something needs to be done”, with publicly funded universities taking the lead. Leung is correct in that regard. Hong Kong must become a city where talented people want to build their careers and, hopefully, their families. Retaining those who come here for a top-notch university education is key.