Secretary for Education Eddie Ng has met with senior officials in Belgium to strengthen Hong Kong’s education ties with European Union member states.
In Brussels yesterday, Mr Ng met with the European Commission’s Director-General for Education & Culture Jan Truszczyński and other senior officials to discuss education issues and co-operation opportunities.
Mr Ng was briefed on the Bologna Process - a collective effort of public authorities, universities, employers and quality assurance agencies to increase compatibility between education systems, making it easier for students and job seekers to move within Europe.
Mr Ng also learned about the European Union’s Erasmus+ seven-year programme for education, training, youth and sport for 2014-20, with a 15 billion euro budget to provide opportunities for more than 4 million Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad.
This scheme is open to non-European Union countries’ and regions’ post-secondary institutions, including Hong Kong’s.
Mr Ng noted that Hong Kong had similar initiatives and a vision to increase student mobility and international co-operation, including a scholarship scheme announced in the 20114-15 Budget for up to 100 outstanding students per cohort to study in renowned non-local universities to nurture top talent to further Hong Kong's development.
The Hong Kong Government will also support about 9,800 students in need to participate in exchange programmes outside Hong Kong on a merit basis, he said.
"Our goal is to promote the internationalisation, mobility and employability of the talent pool in Hong Kong," he added.
At a reception co-organised by the Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office in Brussels and the Academic Cooperation Association, Mr Ng gave a presentation on nurturing talent for a globalised world and enhancing students’ international mobility to higher-education sector representatives.
Mr Ng met with European University Association Secretary General Lesley Wilson, whose group has 850 members in 47 countries. He also met with two academics from France and Germany renowned for science and language education, and visited Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
He will fly to Helsinki for the second leg of his European duty visit.
