In this modern world, almost everyone goes to school and usually ends up in a job of some sort. Those that are fortunate go to university or some post-secondary institution for further studies before entering the working world. But eventually, almost everyone works and many will find that the world is changing so fast that it is necessary to update oneself now and again to keep up with the demands of the job. This is regardless of whether one is a doctor, a lawyer, a sales executive or a secretary. Even a housewife or a domestic helper has to learn...

It is commonly accepted that for a country to progress, it is necessary to have an educated work force. This is the philosophy of education for development or education as investment. From a national perspective, the more money a government puts into the education of its citizens, the more they can contribute to economic development; the more economic development there is, the more resources there will be for public services and social welfare as well as a general improvement in standards of living and hence quality of life. From an individual's angle, the more highly or widely educated he or...

In the last chapter, we have already mentioned that a current manpower planning policy of the Hong Kong government has been the expansion of tertiary education. In 1988, plans for tertiary expansion were endorsed by the Executive Council. The goal was to increase first-year, first-degree places from 7% of the appropriate age group to about 15% by the turn of the century. Ambitious as these plans were, the provisions were still considered inadequate and were revised in 1989 to provide 18% of the appropriate age group with tertiary education by 1994-5. In other words, more places and sooner. This translates...

Alongside the expansion of tertiary education funded by the government, educational provision for Hong Kong students has increased in other modes. The two principal alternatives are local part-time continuing education and overseas educational programmes recruiting in Hong Kong. The increase in these alternative educational opportunities and hence competitiveness has been so tremendous that it is appropriate to try to understand this phenomenon using a market analogy. In terms of the number of students (consumers), the number of institutional providers (suppliers) and the number of educational programmes on offer (products), Hong Kong is a large, active and international educational market. Without...

In the last chapter, it has already been shown how large an educational market Hong Kong is and the characteristics of the providers of educational programmes in Hong Kong have been explored in some detail. In this chapter, we focus on the profile of the consumers of part-time education, commonly referred to as adult learners or participants in continuing or further education.

In Europe, and still more in North America, there has been a strong tradition of research into the reasons why adults participate (or do not participate) in formal learning activities: classic studies include Houle (1961), Johnstone and Rivera...

In the earlier chapters, we have already explored to some extent the perspectives of the government, the educational institutions and the adult learners — all important players in the dynamics of professional and continuing education. In this chapter, we aim to present some relevant analysis of the perspective of another vital party in this area of educational provision, that of commercial and industrial companies in the context of their staff development or in-house training programmes.

In Chapter 1, we have already pointed out how staff development practices form another perspective on professional and continuing education. Although training in the workplace is...

In the earlier chapters, especially in Chapter 3, we have given the background to the educational scene in Hong Kong in relation to the expansion of tertiary education. In particular, we have shown how immense the thirst for degree level education is in Hong Kong and how much the Hong Kong economy needs a more educated work force. So great is the demand that overseas universities have identified Hong Kong as a key educational market (Chapter 4). From the adult learner’s perspective as well (Chapter 5), educational or professional training opportunities beyond the school years are to be valued. In...

In the preceding chapters, we have attempted to give an overview of developments in professional and continuing education to date from various perspectives: the government’s, the institutional providers’, the adult learners’ and the human resource managers’. In the course of this survey, we have tried to define, for the context of Hong Kong, the several variants of professional and continuing education that have emerged in this society (Chapter 1). Through our discussion, many issues have been touched upon. We began with issues of equity and feasibility in terms of government action and funding for the planning and provision of professional...